Bowlers failed to create pressure: Misbah

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq blamed his bowlers for the team losing the Asia Cup crown to Sri Lanka, stating that they failed to create pressure on the opposition.

"We need early wickets in such matches but we could not get them. Saeed (Ajmal) gave us good breakthroughs. In bowling also you need partnerships, but at the other end he did not get the support. No bowler could create any pressure and it became easy for Sri Lanka to chase down the target," Misbah told reporters after the five-wicket loss in the final here.

"We should have bowled wicket to wicket. It was a slow pitch. We needed to bowl accurately but our length was short and even we gave width."

Defending his decision to take away Ajmal from the attack after he gave the twin breakthroughs in Kusal Perera and Kumar Sangakkara, the skipper said: "They were just consuming his overs, blocking. They were not trying anything so I brought other bowlers.

"I took a chance. It was a bad day for all other bowlers. Nobody could put pressure, you can't win matches by only one bowler. You need to bowl really well as a unit. No bowler could exert pressure except Ajmal."

Misbah further said they fell short by about 20-25 runs after Lasith Malinga's fiery first spell left Pakistan at 18/3 in the fifth over.

"We lost three early wickets and then we recovered well. We still could have scored 20-25 more runs. But we were not upto the mark especially in fielding and bowling department," he explained.