Cronje eulogises Boje's effort

Cronje eulogises Boje's effort
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

SHARJAH, MARCH 25: South African skipper Hansie Cronje is not happy with the three-wicket margin of win against Pakistan in his team's second match in the tri-nation Coca-Cola Cup here on Friday.

At the post-match press conference, he was all praise for Nicky Boje who scored an unbeaten 35 off 42 balls (5x4) to enable them to reach the Pakistani total of 196 after South Africa were reduced to seven for 163 at one stage.

``Nicky Boje played very well to continue in the last few overs. I was not at all happy with the top order batting ... We had four soft dismissals at the top order,'' Cronje said. ``We got partnerships only in the 20s and 30s. He said Lance Klusener, who took five wickets for 47 runs, has always delivered with telling effect when needed.

The captain said he was also happy at the slow rate of batting by imran Nazir and Younis Khan (less than four per over) who together produced 115 runs for the second wicket for Pakistan. Asked for comparison with Pakistan and India, the third side in the tournament, he said, ``Pakistani bowling attack is very experienced. They also set a hard field to score.''

A dejected Pakistani captain Moin Khan, however, still maintained that the tournament is wide open. ``We have to win the next two matches. Despite the absence of main strike bowlers, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, the bowlers did very well,'' he said.

Asked about the slow rate of scoring, Moin said, ``We have new players in the middle order.''

Coach Javed Miandad attributed the slow rate to ``lack of experience.''

``The total of 196 is not a bad score on this pitch. The very fact that we stretched the South African innings to the 45th over shows that the boys did well ... It was an unlucky day,'' the former Pakistani veteran said.