Torn in the USA: Co-hosts score historic win over Pak

Dallas, June 7

Newcomers USA shocked former champions Pakistan via the Super Over to record their biggest win in a T20 World Cup match late on Thursday.

The result was reminiscent of Pakistan’s three-wicket loss to Ireland in the 2007 ODI World Cup in the West Indies, which knocked them out of that tournament.

USA thus jumped to the top of Group A with two wins from as many games ahead of the clash against India.

Opting to field, left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige picked three wickets for 30 runs as Pakistan found it difficult to press the accelerator and were restricted to 159/7.

While chasing, USA ended on the same score, reaching 159/with skipper Monank Patel (50 off 38), Aaron Jones (36 not out of 26) and Andries Gous (35 off 26) leading from the front.

In the Super Over bowled by Mohammad Amir, USA piled up 18 runs, eight of which came from extras.

Saurabh Netravalkar then kept his cool and bowled brilliantly to give away just 13 runs for a famous win.

“I thought we should have finished the game (in regular time) and we should have never gone to Super Over. I mean the way we kept our nerves…and in the Super Over particularly, scoring 18 runs gave us a big upper hand to defend the target,” Patel said

Brief scores: Pakistan: 159/7 in 20 overs (Babar 44, Shadab 40; Kenjige 3/30); USA: 159/3 in 20 overs (Monank 50, Gous 35).

Babar slams team

Pakistan have a tendency to underestimate less established teams at major tournaments, captain Babar Azam said, adding that his side played well below their standard in the defeat.

This is not the first time that Pakistan have suffered a defeat to lower-ranked opposition in major tournaments, with the 2009 champions losing to Zimbabwe in the 2022 T20 World Cup and Afghanistan at last year’s 50-over World Cup.

“Whenever you come into any tournament, you always do the best preparation,” Babar said. “But you can say it’s a kind of mindset, when you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. You take things a little lightly. If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you.”