South Africa skipper AB de Villiers said he made a few captaincy errors that may have helped Pakistan snatch a thrilling win from the jaws of defeat in the opening Group 2 Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Colombo on Friday.
Chasing 133 for 6, Pakistan were tottering at 76 for 7 at one stage before Umar Gul played a 17-ball 32-run cameo. Gul and Umar Akmal added
- Umar Gul takes Pakistan past SA in a thriller
49 runs off just 27 balls for the eighth wicket to pull off a sensational win.
And de Villiers conceded that South Africa lost the plot in the final few overs after spinners Robin Peterson (2/15) and Johan Botha (1/10) bowled brilliantly to set it up for the Proteas.
"It was great game of cricket. I'm proud of the way we fought back. We lost it in the last five overs," he said.
"Captaincy-wise one or two errors there, but I'm proud of the boys," de Villiers said, referring to his decision to under bowl Peterson and Botha.
Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez was delighted with Gul's effort with the bat and said every member of the side is trying to contribute in one or the other way, which augurs well for the team.
"The boys played great cricket. We played a couple of bad shots but it was a great team effort," Hafeez said.
"I knew that Gul could hit it hard. This is a good sign that everybody is contributing. We did well to restrict South Africa but in the end Pakistan was lucky to get this (win)," he added.
Gul, who surprisingly won the Man-of-the-Match award for his batting today, thanked his coaches for the match-winning effort.
"It was a very good knock. I must thank all my coaches," he said.
