Abu Dhabi, November 04: After Pakistan’s comprehensive victory over New Zealand in the first ODI here, skipper Younis Khan praised talismanic all-rounder Shahid Afridi for his match-winning effort.
Afridi blasted 70 from 50 balls to help set up Pakistan’s 287 for 9 and then grabbed two wickets to help his team achieve a huge 138-run win here last night.
”He (Afridi) is a fantastic performer,” Younus said after the match. ”The last couple of years he worked well with the bowling but now his batting is there so it’s good for Pakistan.” ”It was a complete professional performance led by the fantastic Afridi and (Kamran) Akmal.
They changed the game after we were in trouble in the first ten overs,” he said. Younus however, rued that his team could not host matches in their own country. ”Although we have a lot of supporters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we still need to play some games in Pakistan. I hope that we’ll soon play again in Pakistan,” he added.
—–Agencies