Pakistan coach Misbah Ul Haq was left "disappointed" as his wards "let England off the hook" in the three-wicket loss in the opening Test of the series in Manchester.
Misbah, the former skipper, was at pain over Pakistan's batting collapse in the third innings but it was especially despairing to him how the visitors couldn't pull off victory despite once putting the home team under extreme pressure in the run-chase.
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Chasing 277 on a Day 4 surface offering uneven bounce and turn from the rough, England was reeling on 117/5 at one stage, before Jos Buttler (75) and Chris Woakes (84*) stitched an all-important 139-run partnership for the sixth wicket to take England through. It was a case of so near yet so far for Pakistan.
"We are disappointed that we let England off the hook after they were five wickets down at one stage. The way Buttler and Woakes counter-attacked our bowlers it was very skilful," said Misbah in a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Twitter after the loss.
Things could've been different had Pakistan not collapse to just 169 after taking a 107-run lead at the end of the first half and not allowed England to comeback in the match.
"Overall, we could have done better with the bat in the second innings," stressed Misbah. "It would have been a different scenario if it was a 300 above target. It is very important to put up decent score in the second innings against England's quality bowling attack in their own conditions."
There was criticism of skipper Azhar Ali's on-field tactics by the great Wasim Akram himself via the commentary box. But Misbah refused to be drawn into those talks, reiterating that it was the Buttler-Woakes duo that made the difference.
"I think till then the match was in our hands. That partnership completely took the game away from us. The turning point of the match was that England produced a brilliant partnership under pressure," he said.
"It was a tough game for us but we will have to come out of that soon. We can play much better cricket and this team has the capability to make a comeback," Misbah added.
The two teams now move to Southampton's Ageas Bowl for the start of the second Test of the three-match series on August 13.
(Inputs from PTI)
