World Cup 2023 - We haven't batted well enough: Pakistan head coach

Following Pakistan's 1-wicket loss against South Africa in the 26th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, 'Men in Green' head coach Mickey Arthur said that they have not batted well as a unit in the tournament.  AUS vs NZ LIVE SCORE AND MATCH UPDATES, World Cup 2023 updates

While speaking at the post-match press conference, Arthur said that they haven't put together the perfect game yet in the ongoing ODI World Cup.

"We haven't put together the perfect game yet. I don't think we've batted well enough yet as a unit. Yeah, I think that pitch, certainly par on that pitch is 300 at least. So, we haven't put together enough runs. And then we haven't put together a bowling performance that goes with it. So tonight, I thought was our best bowling performance of the competition. Thought we bowled really well, but I still thought we were under par in terms of the runs that we had. We haven't put the perfect game together yet. Hasn't been for lack of effort, hasn't been for lack of trying, but we just haven't got enough players in form at the minute, particularly with the bat," Arthur said.

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While talking about Pakistan's number-one position in the ODI ranking, Arthur said that their form had sort of drifted off a little bit.

He further stated that the 'Men in Green' have been average in the fielding.

"I think at a World Cup you've got to be playing your best game the at the right time. Our form had sort of drifted off a little bit. And there are various [reasons]. We talk about it every day as to what it could have been. But our form kind of drifted off. And again, we haven't put the perfect games together. We've batted well, we haven't bowled well. I do think our fielding standards have been average. So, there's a lot of work that we need to put in to manage and get to the standards required to win a World Cup. But those are the things we talk about every day. Those are the things when we go to the training ground, we train every day. We want to work to world-class standards, which we do in terms of our preparation. Again, form just hasn't allowed us an opportunity to put the perfect game together," he added.

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Coming to the match, Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bat first. In the first inning, the 'Men in Green' openers failed to make a mark in the game.

However, Babar Azam played a 50-run knock from 65 balls to help his side take in a better position game.

Saud Shakeel also scored 52 runs in 52 balls. Meanwhile, Shadab Khan too played a stunning knock of 43 runs from 36 balls.

Tabraiz Shamsi led the Proteas' bowling attack and scalped four wickets in his 10-over spell. Marco Jansen also bagged three wickets against Pakistan.

Babar and Saud helped the 'Men in Green' register 270 runs in the first inning.

In the run-chase inning, Aiden Markram played a stunning 91-run knock to keep his side in a better position. However, Tabraiz Shamsi ended the game in style by smashing four at the end.

Shaheen Afridi led the Pakistani bowling attack after he took three wickets in his 10-over spell. But it was not enough to defend the target.

In the end, the Proteas registered a 1-wicket win on Friday.

Shamsi was named the Player of the Match after his four-wicket haul in the first inning.