Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi took 5 for 23 to lead a sprited fightback, as his side outlasted Canada by 46 runs in a tempestuous Group A match in Colombo.
Pakistan had only managed to amass 184 in their innings after electing to bat first, losing their last five wickets for a dismal 19 runs.
“We will not repeat this kind of performance,” Afridi said. “Some of the shot selection was not very good and the coach and I will speak to the team.”
Veteran Younis Khan said the Canadians had bowled well, but Pakistan felt they always had enough runs.
“They bowled well at us, and the wicket was slow. We knew that if we bowled well in the first Powerplay we would do well. Shahid did very well for us. He is doing fantastically at the moment.”
On a slow wicket, Canada’s collection of medium pacers and slow bowlers stifled the strong Pakistani batting line-up, and it was only Umar Akmal (48) and Misbah ul-Haq (37) who made any real contribution to the total.
At one stage, the pair looked like they had built a platform for the likes of Afridi and Abdul Razzaq to finish the innings with a flourish.
Having added 73 for the fifth wicket, Akmal was trapped leg-before by Balaji Rao, who formed part off an impressive Canadian slow-bowling unit.
Shahid Afridi