JOHANNESBURG: Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson defended batsman Misbah-ul-Haq after they lost the World Twenty20 final to India here on Monday.With Pakistan needing six from four balls to win the game, an unorthodox shot saw Misbah caught at fine leg as he stepped across to the off-side.“He’s played it well in this tournament and with a little more bat on it, it would have gone for four,” Lawson said. “I could see him playing it because fine leg was up, a yorker was coming so the shot was pretty much on the cards,” he explained.He added: “Having already had a tie with India, it was always going to be close. With five overs to go we were almost out of the game, but with four balls to go, we were well and truly back in it. But if Misbah had hit the last ball a little finer, we’d have needed two off three balls to win the whole tournament — that’s how close it was”.“He’s been terrific — he’s 33, he’s been the top scorer in Pakistan domestic cricket for five years in a row and he’s been great in domestic Twenty20. He’s got a terrific cricket brain and I think you’ll see him around in Pakistan cricket for years to come,” Lawson added.Lawson also saluted his side’s spirit after they bounced back from a disappointing World Cup campaign to come close to winning the tournament.“Results apart, I’ve been really happy with the consistency our guys have shown. They’ve shown fight when they’ve been under pressure, and today was no exception,” he added.“If they had a bowler of the tournament award, I think Umar Gul would have won that, as he’s been outstanding. Mohammad Asif was great, we found Sohail Tanvir from somewhere to come out as a replacement, so there have been so many positives to come out of the tournament,” he remarked.“But I’m a little bit tired of reading how disjointed and unharmonious the Pakistan team is, as people just don’t know what goes on in that dressing-room. They’re a terrific bunch of guys, and we’ve got all the ingredients to be a good side,” he added.
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