After England beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup Super Eight clash by two wickets on Tuesday, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi acknowledged that his team’s fate was no longer in his hands.
Pakistan have just one point from two Super Eight matches, so they must now win their final match and rely on other results to have any hope of reaching the semi-finals.
"We know our destiny is not in our hands,” he admitted, "but we have to beat Sri Lanka in our last match on Saturday and then hope other results go in our favor.”
"It’s not ideal, but it is what it is,” Shaheen said during a post-match news conference.
He also hailed Harry Brook’s century in the match against England as a “world-class knock”.
Brook reached his first T20 International century off 50 balls, with four sixes and 10 fours, as England surpassed their target of 165 runs with five balls to spare to win by two wickets.
Afridi shook England’s top order with a three-wicket haul before Brook played the captain’s final innings to take his team home.
"In my opinion, this will be the best innings of his life,” Afridi told reporters. "It wasn’t an easy pitch to hit, but it took the game away from us.”
Promoted to number three after a morning chat with England coach Brendon McCullum, Brook came in after Afridi dismissed Phil Salt on the first ball of the innings.
Afridi then removed Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell to leave England reeling at 35-3 in the powerplay.
Brook held his own, adding 45 for the fifth wicket with Sam Curran and 52 with Will Jacks for the sixth.
His century was the second-fastest in T20 World Cup history and the first by a team captain.
Only West Indies great Chris Gayle, against England in the 2016 T20 World Cup, reached three figures quicker. He only took 47 balls.
Afridi was hit for a six and a four as Brook raced through the “nervous nineties” in two balls, going from 90 to 100 before raising his bat.
The tall pacer bowled Brook off the next Yorker ball, but he did not celebrate wildly, but immediately went to congratulate the England captain in a magnificent display of cricketing sportsmanship.
“Brook played some good cricket and deserved a handshake, so I walked up to him and shook his hand in gratitude,” Afridi said.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1975503/our-fate-is-not-in-our-hands-shaheen-on-t20-world-cup-semi-final-prospects-following-defeat-by-england