KARACHI: A day after Pakistan suffered one of the most bizarre batting collapses in to enable New Zealand secure their first series victory against them since 1985, head coach Mickey Arthur expressed deep disappointment over the Hamilton Test capitulation.
After reaching 158-1 at tea on the last day of match at Seddon Park on Tuesday, Pakistan lost nine wickets for 71 runs to be all out for 230 as New Zealand won by 138 runs to complete a 2-0 sweep.
Shortly after arriving in Brisbane on Wednesday for the start of Australia tour during which Pakistan will play the hosts in three Tests and five One-day Internationals, Arthur said there was no way Pakistan would have lost the game in Hamilton.
“Yes, it was very disappointing, we had played well through the day in only losing one wicket up until tea but were probably a little short of where we wanted to be runs-wise and we certainly wanted to give ourselves an opportunity to try to win the game,” Arthur said while speaking exclusively to Dawn from Brisbane. “That is how we want to play and look to win first and only then settle for a draw. We have to realise that we are going to lose some games trying to win but that is certainly the brand we want to play.”
The 48-year-old former coach of South Africa and Australia elaborated the plan to play and go for a draw after three specialist batsmen got out but he was shocked to see Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 31 runs in the space of 92 balls.
“It is very hard to explain to be honest. Once we lost Babar [Azam], Sami [Aslam] and Sarfraz [Ahmed] we decided then to play for the draw because we knew that there was the second new ball available and wanted to have batsmen there to negotiate the draw,” Arthur said.
