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Pakistan middle-order batter Saud Shakeel admitted his team would have to move on from the drama surrounding a contentious DRS decision in their one-wicket defeat against South Africa on Friday.
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Pakistan pulled things back in their favour superbly after the Proteas were going strong in the middle overs during their chase of 271 in Chennai, and were firmly on top after the well-set Aiden Markram was dismissed for 91.
Haris Rauf nearly grabbed the final wicket of the South African innings after a leg-before appeal against Tabraiz Shamsi off his final delivery of the day, with Pakistan going for the review after the umpire initially turned the appeal down.
Hawk-Eye showed the ball to be clipping leg, allowing Shamsi to stay at the crease. He would go on to get the Proteas over the line alongside Keshav Maharaj as Pakistan were condemned to their fourth consecutive loss, leaving them on the brink of an early exit.
“The way the bowlers bounced back despite the pitch not being bowler-friendly, it’s an achievement in itself. (But), such decisions about umpire’s call keep happening, and we are not to be bothered by it,” Shakeel told reporters after the defeat.
“Obviously, our hearts are broken. But we have got to accept such things and move on. It will go your way someday, and it won’t on the other day.”
It means Pakistan will have to win their remaining three matches and then rely heavily on other results.
Although things look extremely bleak for Pakistan, Shakeel drew inspiration from their ability to come back from hopeless situations.
“We generally play better under such circumstances. That’s the charm of this tournament. We will be trying our best to win the remaining three games.”
Read | How South Africa’s aggression helped them pip Pakistan in nail-biter
Speaking about his and Mohammad Nawaz’s batting during the chase of 271, he said, “We always aim at striking 100-plus. That’s the message we gave to the team (after the contest), that we didn’t play the required amount of balls that we should have. These are some small things that we need to take care of and correct in the upcoming ties.
“While batting first, we have to take some time to read the pitch. We tend to lose wickets in a bunch, thus hurting our momentum, and we need to rectify this, or else, it becomes tough to maintain the strike rate.”
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