After suffering a 23-run defeat at the hands of England, Nabeeha Khan, a Pakistani cricket fan, burst into tears over the loss and the “poor performance” of skipper Babar Azam.
The cricket fan reached the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham carrying keys of an expensive car, which she would have gifted to Babar if he had scored a ton in the fixture. The skipper, however, went to the pavilion after scoring 32 runs.
With tears in her eyes, Nabeeha said: “I reached here with high hopes…. But Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat.”
Referring to Fakhar Zaman’s remarks claiming that Pakistan’s mindset has changed, the cricket fan said "she thought that the mindset had really changed but it was her mistake".
Babar scored 32 off 26 deliveries, and went to the pavilion early. The young cricket fan had dared everyone that her country, Pakistan, would win the match, but was left disappointed with the team’s performance.
“I had come with so many expectations that today we will win, I felt that the match is happening after so long and Fakhar Zaman had also said that the style has changed but still we lost,” she said.
“I thought that even if we lose, we would enjoy a little, but we lost horribly. I feel like my heart is shattered into pieces, I ignored my studies, and came to watch the match,” she added.
“Pakistan team, we have one heart, how many times will you play with it? Earlier, they used to lose by 10 or 15 runs, now they’ve lost by 22 or 23 runs. Pakistan team should work on their batting line, good players like Babar Azam and Naseem Shah, they didn’t play well,” she further added.
During the match, Babar Azam and Co. were bowled out for 160 while chasing a target of 184. This is England's eighth win in the last 11 T20Is against Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the left handed batter, Fakhar Zaman played really well in the innings, by scoring 45 runs off 21 balls, with the help of three fours and five sixes.
The left-arm fast medium bowler, Reece Topley picked three wickets, while Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer scooped up two wickets each. Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone picked one.
Moreover, England’s batting line gave a commendable performance, Jos Buttler played a captain's knock and scored 84 runs on 51 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. During the process, he also completed 3,000 runs in T20I cricket, becoming only the ninth player in the shorter format to do so.
Schedule of remaining matches
28 May – 3rd T20I, Cardiff
30 May – 4th T20I, The Oval
Murtaza Ali Shah- Babar Azam