Ramiz Raja lashes out at Pakistan bowlers for failing to defend a stiff total vs England

Ramiz Raja criticised the Pakistani bowlers for letting the team down in the second T20I against England at the Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday. Despite having posted a stiff total, the bowlers let them down as the former top-ranked T20I team suffered a bitter defeat in the contest.

'Ordinary Bowling': Ramiz Raja

"The match was in Pakistan's grip during the innings break but they just blew it away after the break. A 200-run target is indeed a stiff one and all Pakistan needed were those good two overs to kill England's rhythm but that did not happen", said Ramiz Raja while speaking on his official Youtube channel. 

"Pakistan's bowling was very ordinary and if you take Shadab Khan, and, Haris Rauf out of the equation then the rest of the bowlers did not have a good time. Shaheensha Afridi was very expensive, Mohammad Amir was expensive as well before he got unfit", he added.

Meanwhile, the 1992 World Cup winner also heaped praise on the Pakistani and English batsmen as well. 

"Our batsmen put a lot of pressure on the opposition and credit must be given to Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez. Pakistan showcased a great performance with the bat. However, you cannot afford to make silly mistakes during the run-chase and England did not even make any mistakes in that one over or so as partnerships were built at regular intervals. I thought that Dawid Malan would be vulnerable against the Pakistan spinners but that was not to be as he played an outstanding innings. In fact, his T20I career has been consistent as well", the cricketer-turned-commentator/analyst further added.

Eng beat Pak by 5 wickets

English skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Openers Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman added 72 runs for the opening stand before Zaman was dismissed.

Nonetheless, Babar took matters into his own hands as he anchored the Pakistan innings, and just when it looked like he would take his team to a formidable total, the batting sensation was dismissed by leggie Adil Rashid in the 13th over. The captain's knock included seven boundaries at a strike rate of 127.27.  

Post Babar's dismissal, Hafeez made his presence felt and added a 50-run stand with Shoaib Malik for the third-wicket. The2017 ICC Champions Trophy winner made a tremendous impact towards the backend of the innings as he scored a 36-ball 69 that included five boundaries and four maximums at a strike rate of 191.67. He was eventually dismissed by Tom Banton on the penultimate ball of the first innings as the 2009 T20 World Cup winners posted 195/4 in their 20 overs.

In reply, openers Tom Banton and Jonny Bairstow toyed around with the Pakistani bowlers as they added 66 runs for the opening wicket before leggie Shadab Khan accounted them off successive deliveries. However, skipper Morgan and Dawid Malan added 112 runs for the third-wicket stand and even though Morgan was dismissed for a 33-ball 36 and England lost a couple more wickets, Malan anchored the run chase and helped the hosts get over the line by five wickets with five balls to spare.

READ: Pakistan Team Becomes Subject Of Jokes On Social Media After Five-wicket Loss To England