Abdul Samad vows ‘improvement’ after fourth T20I drubbing

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Pakistan’s emerging middle-order batter Abdul Samad highlighted the positives and essential learnings and vowed to improve as a team after a hammering 115-run defeat in the fourth T20I against New Zealand here on Sunday.

The visitors, who recorded a record run chase in the previous fixture to stay alive in the series, won the toss and put New Zealand into bat first.

The decision, however, did not turn out beneficial for them as New Zealand racked up a mammoth total of 220/6 on the board, thanks to Finn Allen’s half-century.

Chasing a daunting 221-run target, Pakistan failed to continue their momentum and were bowled out for a meagre 105 and succumbed to their heaviest defeat in terms of runs in the format.

Meanwhile, Samad, who waged a lone battle for the green shirts with a gritty 44, rued the lack of help from the conditions, stating that when they were batting, the New Zealand bowlers were getting swing and seam.

“We noticed things were different here as we did not get much help while bowling first; no swing or seam but when we were batting, things became evidently different. So, that was also a part of our learning stage,” said Samad.

Abdul Samad further claimed that the young group of players are learning and improving day by day and will start producing the desired results by developing into a team.

“Everybody knows that the conditions here are not favourable for us. But the idea of selecting a team young team for this tour is to test the talent. It was a challenge for us [youngsters] and we accepted it.

“By the will of Almighty Allah, there will be more improvement in the upcoming matches. We are improving day by day.

“So we are developing into a team and will deliver good results in the future.”