English player Ben Duckett praises Babar-Rizwan winning partnership

• We were actually pretty happy halfway, we thought we'd had a good score there and probably over par, says Ben.
• If we'd have taken a couple of wickets after ten overs, it could have been very different, he says.
• Ben Duckett also praises Karachi’s crowd saying spectators at the stadium were superb.

Karachi: England’s batter Ben Duckett has said his side thought they had a very good score on the board, if his side had taken couple of wickets, it could’ve been different.

In an exclusive interview to Geo News after the 2nd T20I which Pakistan won by 10 wickets, the 27-year-old England cricketer said that sometimes you’ve to take your hats off and praise your opponents.

“We were actually pretty happy halfway, we thought we'd had a good score there and probably over par. I said in an interview at halftime, we have to take wickets. I think sometimes you have to take your hat off and say, well played two incredible players. If we'd have taken a couple of wickets after ten overs, it could have been very different. But unfortunately, we didn't,” he said after England’s defeat in the game.

Duckett stroked 7 shots to the fence to score 43 off 22 deliveries and added 53 for the third wicket with Phil Salt after Shahnawaz Dahani had sent Alex Hales and Dawid Malan back to pavilion on back-to-back deliveries.

“I think actually, in the first innings, we struggled against the seam, which made my job simpler: to try and score as quick as I could against the spin. And thankfully, I hit some gaps today. I went pretty well,” he said about his innings.

Ben Duckett is among players who has previously played PSL matches in Pakistan. In 2022 edition, he had represented Quetta Gladiators and featured in 4 games for his side.

“I think in general, the experience is very good. I've only played a couple of games out here. But, I've experienced watching people play and how they go about it. It obviously helps having senior players in the team that have been out here,” the England cricketer said who has played 3 T20Is for his side.

He also praised Karachi’s crowd saying spectators at the stadium were superb.

“It was very loud. I was at deep cover, I couldn't really hear any of my teammates. They've been superb. We know how much they love watching Pakistan play and I'm sure they enjoy that today,” he said.

The Englishman said that his side will have to move on from 2nd T20Is defeat and switch back on for 3rd game.

“Take the good things that we did and try and individually improve where we can, where we didn't go out tonight,” he said ahead of today’s third T20I.