T20 World Cup 2024: USA register historic win against Pakistan

The United States (USA) pulled off a huge upset after defeating Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday. The game had plenty of twists and turns before going into the super over, where the co-hosts emerged victorious.

Pakistan, with all its experience, failed to capitalize on the opportunities presented to it by the USA. With this win, the US team overtook India to top the Group A standings. Asked to bat first, Pakistan got off to a nightmare start, scoring 30 runs in the powerplay and losing the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan.

At the other end, Babar Azam, the captain, soaked in the pressure and made a stagnant start. Babar and Shadab Khan helped Pakistan recover with a decent partnership of 72 runs in 8 overs for the fourth wicket. Shadab was aggressive in the partnership scoring 40 off 25 balls with one four and 3 sixes. Babar also went on to score 44 runs off 23 balls.

Just when it looks like the two will step further on the gas, Nostush arrives for Kenji’s party in the USA. The left-arm spinner dismissed Shadab, who then sent the out-of-form Azam Khan back for a golden duck. Kenji was the pick of the bowlers for USA after finishing with impressive figures of 4-0-30-3. In the end, Shaheen Shah Afridi played some shots and took Pakistan to 159 for 7. Former India U19 cricketer Saurabh Netrawalkar also rattled Babar’s men with a spell of 4-0-18-2. Ali Khan and Jasdeep Singh took one wicket each.

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USA gave their run-chase a promising start after Steven Taylor and Monak Patel put on a 36-run partnership for the opening wicket in 5.1 overs. Naseem Shah gave Pakistan the breakthrough they needed after dismissing Taylor, who had scored 12 runs off 16 balls.

From there, captain Monak took charge and completed his half century in 34 balls. His 68-run partnership with Andries Gaus made the USA the early favorites to win. Gauss smashed Harris Rauff’s woodwork with a 26-ball 35 with 5 fours and 1 six. The duo ensured that USA were always in touch with the required run rate.

Mohammad Amir gave the USA a big blow after dismissing Monak for a 38-ball 50 with the required run-rate hovering around 10, with the onus on Aaron Jones, the hero of the match against Canada, to take the USA home. With 12 runs needed in the last over, Jones smashed Rauf over mid-wicket for a six and then took the match into a super over. Jones held his nerve to make 36 off 26 not out, again giving an account of his temperament.

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Amir gave 12 runs in the super over. He started by giving a boundary to Jones, who cleared the third man area with ease. After that, Jones took the pair when Amir tried to hit the black-hole. Amir bowled wide and Jones took a chance to sneak in the bye. Finally America gave Pakistan a target of 19 runs.

Netrawalkar started with a dot ball and hit a boundary in the second ball. He was nervous after being given a wide, but made amends with the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed. Needing 7 runs off the last ball, Shadab managed just a single. It goes without saying that Pakistan will need to go back to the drawing board before Rohit Sharma’s next match against India on June 9.