Pakistan suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of hosts USA in their opening match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. In a closely-fought contest, the Men in Green lost by a narrow margin of 5 runs.
The first match of Pakistan of this year’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the USA, took place in a converted minor-league baseball park in the Grand Prairie suburb of Dallas, Texas, which has a seating capacity of just 7,000 spectators. The game was not broadcast on American television but was available on the cricket specialist Willow TV subscription channel and streaming service.
After the match, Pakistan captain Babar Azam criticized the bowlers for failing to maintain their lines and lengths. He emphasized that 159 should have been defendable given their bowling strength. “Even in the second innings, I think we also got help, but we were not up to the mark regarding our bowling areas. We lacked in that in the first ten overs. We came back after that but they had already taken the momentum. But given the bowlers we have, we should have defended that total. On this pitch, I think it was a defendable total for our bowling,” Babar said.
Match Summary
Asked to bat first, Pakistan struggled early, losing key wickets of Usman Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman within the first 6 overs. However, a partnership between Shadab Khan and skipper Babar Azam helped them post a respectable total of 159 for seven.
In response, the USA, led by skipper Monank Patel, managed to reach the same score of 159 for 3, pushing the match to a Super Over. Monank Patel (50 off 38), Aaron Jones (36 not out off 26), and Andries Gous (35 off 26) were key contributors. During the Super Over, bowled by Mohammad Amir, USA accumulated 18 runs, including eight extras. Saurabh Netravalkar, who balances his cricket career with a full-time job as a software engineer, bowled superbly, conceding only 13 runs to secure a memorable victory for the USA.
Fan’s reactions
Pakistani fans can’t believe the match that occurred. They had high hopes for the team this time round and losing to a team that has a part-time cricketer crushed the hope. It was the first match of the World Cup and fans were discouraged. There are close to no fans of USA cricket but all celebrated this win as if they had been supporting the team from the get-go.
