Tarouba [Trinidad and Tobago], June 14 (ANI): Following his side’s win over Papua New Guinea on Friday, Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott heaped praise on left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi for his performance.
A magnificent three-wicket haul by pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi and a fine knock by Gulbadin Naib powered Afghanistan to a seven-wicket win over Papua New Guinea in their T20 World Cup match at Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.
With this win, Afghanistan have made it three wins in three matches and reached the Super Eights stage along with West Indies. New Zealand, who have lost to Afghanistan and West Indies, have crashed out from the tournament.
Farooqi is currently the highest wicket-taker in the marquee event. The left-arm fast bowler has snapped a total of 12 wickets in the three matches at an average of 3.50. His best bowling figures came against Uganda where he bagged five wickets and conceded just five runs in his spell of four overs.
“He’s been really good I think when he gets his line and that with the pace and the swing, he’s very dangerous so I still think with the amount of talent I still think he can even bowl better. I still think there’s even better bowling in him. He’s that talented. And working with our bowling coach Hamid Hassan and obviously DJ Bravo for this tournament, we’ve seen him stand up and have some real match-winning performances or Player of the Match performances. But a lot of other bowlers have bowled well. So, I was pleased with how everybody else supported him today. It’s not just about one bowler. And that’s exciting going forward for St. Lucia,” Trott said in the post-match press conference.
He also spoke about Dwayne Bravo who has joined the Afghanistan side as a bowling consultant for the ongoing T20 WC.
“I think DJ has come in and obviously very well respected, but his work ethic is great along with all the other coaches. But also, his knowledge of the game, the amount of T20 cricket, and especially in this format he has, the amount of teams and the conditions, and obviously having the local knowledge here at ground, how they’re going to play. So as somebody I speak to about, I’ve obviously played against him and getting to spend a bit of time with him now is great and it’s really good to have him on our side. He works with the bowlers but works with the batters as well. But he was a very good all-rounder, wasn’t he? So, lots of experience to draw from and pleased we’ve secured his services,” the 43-year-old asserted.
Coming to the match, Afghanistan won the toss and put PNG to bowl first. PNG kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/16) and Naveen ul Haq (2/4) firing all cylinders in the first half of the innings. Though wicketkeeper-batter Kiplin Doriga (27 in 32 balls, with two fours) played a fighting knock, PNG was restricted to 95 runs in 19.5 overs.
In the run-chase of 96 runs, Afghanistan lost their openers early and was reduced to 22/2. A partnership of 33 runs between Gulbadin Naib (49 in 36 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Azmatullah Omarzai (13 in 18 balls, with a four) and a 46-run partnership between Naib and Mohammed Nabi (16* in 23 balls, with a four) helped Afghanistan reach the winning total in 15.1 overs.
Farooqi took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
With this win, Afghanistan have made it three wins in three matches and reached the Super Eights stage along with West Indies. Also, New Zealand, who have lost to Afghanistan and WI so far, have crashed out from the tournament. (ANI)
