Afghanistan coach Trott rues team’s lack of control

PowerPlay wickets are the ultimate currency in T20 cricket.

While it is the speedmerchants that usually get to ply their trade in the first six overs, some spinners have redefined these pre-assigned roles.

Chief among them is Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman, whose tally of T20I PowerPlay wickets (43 scalps) is second only to Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (44) among the tweakers.

Mujeeb has bowled in the PowerPlay in 60 of his 62 T20Is, underlining his expertise and experience in the rare craft.

Though Mujeeb did his part by castling Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra — two pearlers that showcased his impeccable control over subtle variations — off consecutive balls, the exploits were not enough to earn victory over New Zealand.

Head coach Jonathan Trott said Afghanistan’s lack of control took the sheen away from Mujeeb’s double-wicket over.

“We’ve got to be able to build pressure. When Mujeeb got those two wickets in the second over, we then conceded 38 in the next four. Hence, they still finished the PowerPlay relatively strongly [52 for two]. If we had reduced that, there would have been a bit more pressure on them,” Trott said at the MAC Stadium on Sunday, following Afghanistan’s five-wicket loss in the T20 World Cup.

“I thought Mujeeb did really well. He’s a very, very good bowler with lots of variations, and we saw how dangerous he can be.”

There was another bowler, though, whose PowerPlay wickets came in a winning cause: Lockie Ferguson. By dismissing Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the pacer helped NZ tighten the screws during the middle overs.

“I missed my mark a couple of times. I don’t think they were all perfect deliveries, but I was pleased with the slower ball [which accounted for Gurbaz],” Ferguson noted.

“Mujeeb getting those back-to-back wickets was a huge roadblock for us, but the way (Tim) Seifert batted with Glenn (Phillips) was outstanding”.