Former Pakistan captain applauds Hafeez’s role as the ‘finisher’

Pakistan cricketer turned commentator Ramiz Raja has applauded middle order batsman Muhammad Hafeez for his match winning innings against South Africa in the first One Day International (ODI) on Saturday.

“Hafeez is emerging as a finisher in the middle order for Pakistan in the limited overs. He has become a very effective player since shifting from opening slot to middle order,” said Raja, while talking at Ramiz Speaks.

The senior batsman guided Pakistan to their first victory of the tour, thanks to a blistering knock of 71 runs off 63 deliveries, including eight boundaries and two sixes.

“It seems that he is now free to play his shots, hitting sixes against spinners, taking on the fast bowlers, hitting runs and is able to read the situation pretty well as well. Hafeez alongside Shoaib Malik is turning out to be a useful player in the middle order,” added Raja.

Earlier, the Pakistani all-rounder said that his side was confident about chasing down the target, after restricting South Africa to 266 runs in their innings. “It wasn't a par score on this track so we were really confident that we will chase this down and everyone just responded very well," said Hafeez, while talking at the post match conference.

The veteran batsman also appreciated the efforts of bowlers for restricting South Africa to a low total.

"The bowlers did the job for us, we were thinking of restricting them to 290-300 but our bowlers did well. Once it was 266 we were confident and we knew one good partnership would do the job for us. It was a complete, comprehensive victory for us which is what we were looking for," he said.

With the series 1-0, Pakistan will now face off against South Africa in the second ODI of the series in Durban on Tuesday, January 22.