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During the presentation ceremony after the completion of the fourth match of the Champions One-Day Cup in Pakistan, the captain of Stallions, Mohammad Haris, made a bizarre comment about how he was happy that his team lost to Markhors by 126 runs. At the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Markhors were all out for 231 runs in 45 overs, and in the run chase, Stallions were bundled out for just 105 runs inside 24 overs, to suffer their first defeat of the tournament.
Notably, after winning the toss, Mohammad Rizwan, the captain of Markhors, decided to bat first, and while they were losing wickets at regular intervals for most of their innings, the likes of Salman Agha (51 off 72) and Iftikhar Ahmed (60 off 66) did score fifties. Jahandad Khan and Mehran Mumtaz of Stallions shared seven wickets amongst themselves, ensuring that Markhors were restricted to a below par total.
Koi galti nahi hui: Mohammed Haris after 126-run defeat for Stallions
In the run chase, Shan Masood (19 off 21) and Babar Azam (45 off 45) were the only batters of Stallions to cross double digit mark, which meant that they were dismissed without facing even half the overs in their innings. Zahid Mahmood of Markhors picked up a five-wicket haul in just 4.4 overs, while conceding just 18 runs. He was well-supported by Salman Agha, who took three wickets.
Mohammad Haris, who scored only 3 off 7 during the pursuit of a 232-run target for Stallions, remarked that the defeat on the night doesn’t quite matter in the grand scheme of things during the post-match presentation. He was quoted as saying, as per Times of India, “Koi galti nahi hui. Hum jo chah rahe they. Hum team ki strength check kar rahe they (There was no mistake. We did what we wanted to do. We were checking the team's strength)," Haris said after the match.
“Humne pehle match mein toss jeeta and batting ki thi. Aaj humne chase kiya. Jisse ki hume apni strength ka pata chal jaye. Wohi hua. Mujhe khushi hui ki hum haar gaye (In the first match, we won the toss and chose to bat. Today, we chased, so that we could understand our strength. That’s exactly what happened. I am happy that we lost),” Mohammad Haris further added.
Despite a massive defeat in their second match of the Champions One-Day Cup in Pakistan, Mohammad Haris-led Stallions are in third place on the standings with 14 points after the first two matches in a five-team tournament. They are behind Markhors and Panthers, who have won both their first two matches in the competition, with 26 and 23 points to their name respectively.
