First upset of t20 World cup 2024 USA beats Pakistan
It is the first time the USA faced Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. The USA is a new team, with not much interest in cricket in the USA, and many players in this team are overseas. But despite these facts, the USA played better and more modern-day cricket than Pakistan. The USA beat Pakistan in this match in a super over.
Match Highlights:
After winning the toss, the USA elected to field first, the right option according to conditions. Pakistan also wanted to field first. Pakistan came with the prime and most successful opening pair of Babar and Rizwan, but this time, this pair failed to utilize the conditions. In the second over, Muhammad Rizwan was out by a brilliant catch in the slip. He scored 9 off 8 balls. After Rizwan’s wicket, Pakistan lost wickets continuously. But then, a partnership between Pakistani captain Babar Azam and Shadab Khan took place. It looked like Pakistan would easily touch 180 when both batters were in the mood. This partnership of 72 runs off 48 balls between Babar and Shahdab was very crucial for the Pakistan team, and this partnership broke when Shadab Khan was out at 40 runs off 25 balls. Then Pakistan ran into troubles, losing back-to-back wickets of Shadab Khan and Azam Khan. After some time, Pakistan’s captain left the crease at the score of 44 off 43 balls. Then short knocks of Iftikhar and Shaheen led Pakistan to a target of 160. It looked difficult for the USA because Pakistan had four best pacers in their side. But when the USA came to bat, they batted very comfortably, and Pakistan’s fielding was not up to the mark as Iftikhar Ahmed gave a second life to Monank Patel by dropping a catch in the slip. The USA’s first wicket fell in the sixth over when Naseem took the wicket of Taylor. But the USA dominated Pakistan in the powerplay; they played well in the powerplay, and even after the powerplay, they were positive in their batting. A large partnership occurred between Monank Patel and Andries Gous. Pakistan bowled well in some last overs, but the last over went for 14 runs by Haris Rauf. He could not defend 14 runs, and this led to the second super over of this World Cup. In the super over, the USA batted first with players Jones and Harmeet Singh, and bowling was given to Muhammad Amir. Amir gave a lot of extras and conceded one boundary on the first ball of the super over, setting a target of 19 runs for Pakistan. Pakistan came with players Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman. Iftikhar hit one boundary and then got out, and Shahdab came, but he could not do much. At the last ball, Pakistan required 7 runs to win, Shadab was on strike, and he only managed to take a single, with this, the USA won a remarkable match by six runs, making it very difficult for Pakistan to qualify for the Super Eights.
Pakistan Playing XI:
- Babar Azam
- Muhammad Rizwan
- Fakhar Zaman
- Usman Khan
- Shadab Khan
- Azam Khan
- Iftikhar Ahmed
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Naseem Shah
- Haris Rauf
- Muhammad Amir
USA Playing XI:
- Steven Taylor
- Monank Patel
- Andries Gous
- Aron Jones
- Nitish Kumar
- Corey Anderson
- Harmeet Singh
- Jasdeep Singh
- Nosthush Kenjige
- Saurabh Netravalkar
- Ali Khan
Man of the Match:
Monank Patel was named the man of the match because he played a brilliantly captaincy knock of 50 runs off 38 balls. Monank hit 7 fours and 1 six in this match. His inning played a crucial role in this run chase, and with this, the USA reached 159. This inning gives a lot of confidence to captain Monank Patel, and now he is hopeful to take his team to super eights