 Newcomer Umar Gul celebrates a wicket |
Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said his team's willingness to learn from their mistakes was behind their opening 68-run Sharjah Cup victory over Zimbabwe. Pakistan endured a miserable World CUp in which they were knocked out in the tournment's opening stages.
And Latif said his team had succeeded in gelling as a unit.
That's an encouraging sign," he said. "But I don't want to draw too many conclusions. One win doesn't mean anything, we have to play well over a period of time.
"The boys are willing to learn and we are putting in extras efforts in all departments of the game, the fielding in particular."
Man-of-the-match Abdul Razzaq said he was not used properly during Pakistan's disappointing World Cup campaign.
"I was always under pressure there and hence couldn't come up with a good performance," he said.
"I am pleased the way I played today, but the match is just the beginning of our campaign in the tournament."
Our bowlers did bowl not in the right areas and conceded too many wides  Zimbabwe coach Geoff Marsh |
Zimbabwe coach Geoff Marsh said Pakistan played well because they were allowed to. "We had things under control, but lost the way in the last five or six overs," he said.
"Our bowlers did bowl not in the right areas and conceded too many wides.
"If you allow your opponents to score around 100 runs in a few overs you can't expect to win. We simply lost the match in the last five overs."
Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak agreed.
"We have a day off tomorrow," he said. "We will sit down and analyse the game to see where and how things went wrong. We didn't bowl or bat well."