Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq admitted his side's batsmen were "totally lost" after mis-firing again on the way to a 67-run defeat by South Africa here on Monday night.
Having lost their Champions Trophy opener to West Indies on the back of 170 all out, they were dismissed for 167 by the Proteas and are almost certainly facing an early exit from Group ‘B’.
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Misbah-ul-Haq
Having bowled impressively to keep their opponents to 234 for nine, they seemingly mis-judged their chase completely, letting the run-rate spiral out of control before losing a flurry of wickets attempting to rectify the situation.
Misbah top-scored with 55, but even he was guilty of too much conservatism, only upping the scoring rate when it appeared to be too late.u00a0But he pulled no punches in a candid post-match assessment.
“The positive was the bowling, really we bowled very well, and the fielding is really improving, but as a batting unit you can say it’s totally lost,” Misbah said.
“It’s the application of the batsmen.
They are not applying themselves. It has been a really disappointing two games because the team could not score more than 170 on what looks like an Asian pitch. It is not working. The responsibility is with the players.”
Pakistan enjoyed the raucous support of a one-sided 24,000 crowd at Edgbaston, but as they surrendered late there was a smattering of boos to be heard. “Supporters are like that. This is how things are,” Misbah said.u00a0
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