Relieved Misbah tells batsmen to shape-up fast

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq told his batsmen to shape-up or ship out of the World Cup after the 1992 champions scraped a 20-run win over Zimbabwe on Sunday. It was Pakistan’s first victory of this World Cup after losing by 76 runs to India and suffering a 150-run hiding at the hands of the West Indies in their previous two Pool B fixtures. Misbah needed his bowlers to set up Sunday’s win after his side had been limited to a modest 235 for seven by another poor top-order effort. It was Pakistan’s highest total of the tournament but a long way off the fourteen 300 and over totals so far registered elsewhere in the event. “We need to work hard to improve our batting. All the teams are getting to 280, 290, or 300, so we need to start well and capitalise,” said Misbah. So far at the World Cup, Pakistan have scored 224 against India and were dismissed for just 160 by the West Indies. Misbah has his team’s best two scores of 76 against Pakistan and 73 on Sunday. “It was tough because it was a make or break game for us. You can’t believe how happy we are because we were out of the tournament if we’d lost this game,” Misbah added.