Pallekele (Sri Lanka), March 9 (IANS) Pakistan Coach Waqar Younis Wednesday said he will persist with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal till the end of the World Cup despite his poor showing in the team's 110-run loss to New Zealand.

Akmal twice dropped, on 0 and 4, batsman Ross Taylor who went on to score a match-winning 131 not out.

Akmal also could not hold on to a Scott Styris' catch off the bowling of Shahid Afridi later in the innings.

"He (Akmal) dropped catches which cost us the match. But we can't drop him in the middle of a tournament," said Waqar.

The struggling glovesman also missed a few stumping opportunities in Pakistan's earlier match against Sri Lanka.

Waqar hinted that Akmal could be replaced after the World Cup.

"We can think about it after the tournament but he is going to be around for now. We will try to rectify his mistakes in the break that we have got. We can't fix all his flaws in such a short span but we can give it a try."

Pakistan next play Zimbabwe March 14 here and will take on Australia March 19 in Colombo.