Pak skipper Younis Khan eyeing Super Eight Stage first

Sometimes a defeat confuses people. Something similar happened to Pakistan's captain Younis Khan was at loss for words trying to explain his side's inept performance against hosts England last night.

Sometimes a defeat confuses people. Something similar happened to Pakistan's captain Younis Khan was at loss for words trying to explain his side's inept performance against hosts England last night. Chasing the tournament's highest total of 184, Pakistan's batsmen failed miserably as they got crushed by 48 runs.

Pakistan now need to beat the Netherlands handsomely to fancy any chances of making it to the second round.

Pakistan captain Younis Khan (right) in action against England during their Group B Twenty20 World Cup match at The Oval in London last night. pic/AP

But Younis was not bothered by an early exit. "It won't be a disaster even if we exit before the Super Eights. Yes, it would be sad. I have never attached too much importance to Twenty20 cricket as it is fun cricket," Younis said with a wry smile.

'All about fun'

It was an astonishing statement if taken in isolation. "I mean it is more for entertainment even if it is international cricket. It is all for the crowds. Twenty20 is all about fun. The crowds expect players to come out and entertain."

Having learnt a lesson for taking the Dutch lightly in their opening match, England recalled Kevin Pietersen along with Dmitri Mascarenhans and Graeme Swann, easily their best Twenty20 players.

The effect was instant: Pietersen's dominant 58, which came off 38 balls, and his solid 53-run second wicket partnership with the hard-hitting opener Luke Wrightu00a0 provided the impetus for the England total. They were of course helped by Pakistan's sloppy fielding. The trio of Saeed Ajmal, Yaseer Arafat and Salman Butt dropped four catches between them.

"When we decided to bat 160 was the target in mind, which was chaseable. But our fielding was bad and easily gave away 20-25 runs which is a matter of concern for us," added Younis.

Brief scores: England 185-5 in 20 overs (K Pietersen 58, L Wright 34; S Ajmal 2-23) bt Pakistan 137-7 in 20 overs (Y Khan 46 no, S Butt 28; S Broad 3-17)