Pakistan Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul Haq has admitted that his team's batsmen were 'totally lost' after their poor show during the 67-run defeat by South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Having lost their Champions Trophy opener to West Indies on the back of 170 all out, Pakistan was dismissed for 167 by the Proteas and are almost certainly facing an early exit from Group B, the Independent reports.
Although Misbah had top-scored with 55, the report said that he, along with the other batsmen, was guilty of too much conservatism, only upping the scoring rate when it appeared to be too late.
Agreeing with the critics' assessment, Misbah said that despite a good bowling performance and an improved fielding, as a batting unit, Pakistan is totally lost, adding that the fault lies with the application of the batsmen, who he said, are not applying themselves.
Stating that the responsibility of the loss lies with the players, Misbah said that he is disappointed that in both of the games, the team could not score more than 170 on what looks like an Asian pitch.
Unworried by the smattering of boos from the one-sided 24,000 crowd at Edgbaston, who previously were raucously supporting Pakistan, Misbah said that it is the tendency of supporters to appreciate when a team is doing well, and criticise the same team is it is performing poorly.
Meanwhile, South African veteran Hashim Amla, who was the top-scorer for his team with 81 and was awarded as the Man of the Match, said that although the Proteas came into the game under a cloud having been lost their opener against India, along with injuries to key men Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, but was heartened by the response in the game against Pakistan.
Stating that they have managed to overcome, to an extent, the pressure to win the next two matches after their first defeat, Amla said that cricket is a fickle game, adding that they have new players in their team with new energy.
