Sharjah: Peshawar Zalmi captain Darren Sammy is positive even in defeat. It was shattering for him to lose the match to Islamabad United off the last ball on Saturday night on the fourth day of the Pakistan Super League at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
When asked about where did his team go wrong, he said: “I don’t like to lay blame on anybody. When we lose, we lose as a team when we win, we win as a team. First of all, we did not score enough runs on that pitch and as a fielding group, we did not field well enough. We still caught the game down to the very last ball, which was very good.”
Sammy believes that his team fought well. “I think we did well to get it to the last over. We believed that we were through. If you bowl well and pick up wicket upfront we could win. Every loss is a disappointing feeling. I think [Dwayne] Smith was the difference today but credit to the bowlers to the way everybody fought through the end. The crowd were entertained to two great cricket games today.”
Sammy did not expect his team to be restricted to a small score. “When you watched the first game on the same pitch where over 400 runs were scored you think you’ve got to get 200 runs. They bowled well to restrict us to 130-odd and we bowled well as well to take down to the last over. I thought we should have won but two missed chances here and there probably cost us the game.”
So does he believe that missed chances cost him the game?
“I think we should have scored more runs but after we put our runs on the board to get so close is good. We gave Smith two chances and he was there till the end. Looking back runs on the board is runs on the board but we did not field well enough to come home with a victory.”
When asked about why doesn’t he bowl? Sammy said: “If you look at the combination of our team we have specialist bowlers. If it comes that I have to bowl a few overs I will because I always played cricket not about my personal stuff, it is more about what is important for the team. I have my time to bowl and have an impact in the tournament but today, right back there were guys who could do the job and they almost got it done.”
To a query on whether he will play in Lahore if his team reach the final?, Sammy said: “Right now I am not really looking forward to the final. I can see the tournament is wide open. We need to get to the final first and I am telling my guys to just focus and play some good cricket now and when that time comes we will look after it.”
Is he planning to shuffle the batting line-up for a better show? “We believe in the guys we have with us. Mohammad Hafeez has not really fired in the tournament, Kamran [Akmal] is batting well. We might lose Eoin Morgan after tomorrow as he goes to the Caribbean [for England’s West Indies tour]. In T20 we have to be proactive. The personnel we have in different positions, they are very equipped to do the job.”
