Saurabh Netravalkar’s LinkedIn profile goes viral© X (Twitter)
Newcomers USA shocked the cricketing world on Thursday by defeating former champions Pakistan in the Super Over and recording the biggest win in T20 World Cup history. The result was reminiscent of Pakistan’s three-wicket loss to Ireland in the 2007 ODI World Cup in the West Indies, where they were also eliminated in the group stage. Pakistan will need a more upsetting result this time around to suffer a similar fate, but the result has put the USA and its players in the spotlight, particularly Mumbai-born Saurabh Netravalkar, who performed well in the crucial Super Over against Babar Azam and the others.
In Mohammed Amir’s Super Over, USA piled on 18 runs, eight of which came from the extra runs, before Saurabh Netravalkar kept his cool and bowled a brilliant over to give away just 13 runs and seal a famous win. After Netravalkar led USA to victory, his LinkedIn profile went viral on social media, with fans praising the Oracle “software engineer” for making history on cricket’s biggest stage.
His LinkedIn headline reads, “Key Technical Staff Member at Oracle, Professional Cricketer.” It’s time to change that headline.
“I feel very humbled that life has given me a second chance to pursue what I love,” Netravalkar said after the match. “As soon as I step on the field to play competitive cricket I really feel that bliss.”
As for the matches ahead of their clash with India, the USA have won two consecutive matches to take them to the top of Group A. They had beaten Canada by seven wickets in their opening match.
Left-arm spinner Nostash Kensige, who opted to defend, picked up three wickets for 30 runs but Pakistan struggled to press the gas and were restricted to 159 for seven.
Chasing, the USA finished with the same score, 159 for three, led by captain Monanku Patel (50 off 38), Aaron Jones (36 off 26) and Andries Guth (35 off 26).
Another embarrassment for Pakistan was that they took longer than usual to come up to bat in the Super Over, keeping the US fielders waiting and forcing the on-field umpire to intervene.
Earlier, the United States’ decision to bat first paid off when Mohammed Rizwan (2/18) was run out in the second over, caught by Steven Taylor off a Netravalkar delivery.
The United States showed strong momentum by scoring 44 points on the power play.
Patel led the way in the fourth over with a shot that netted consecutive boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Naseem Shah provided Pakistan with their first breakthrough when Taylor flicked the ball back to Mohammed Rizwan behind the stumps.
But rookie Andries Guth was in earnest, hitting two fours in the same over.
Goose showed some particularly elegant square-of-wicket, opening the bat slightly to take a further four off Haris Rauf.
The US body language was positive, with Patel and Goose leading the attack.
Patel proved his prowess on the off side, scoring two successive boundaries off Iftikhar Ahmed through the cover region.
Patel was at his most destructive, first hitting Afridi over the middle off side and down the boundary, then over the bowler’s head for a six to complete his fifty in 34 balls.
The 68-run second wicket stand was finally broken by Rauf who beat Goose with a quick delivery.
Wickets were a necessity for Pakistan and they got a key batsman in Patel, who edged a Mohammed Amir ball to Rizwan.
Aaron Jones (36 not out off 26) was brilliant against Canada in the last game and he again lived up to expectations, with Nitish Kumar (14 not out off 14) joining the team as the match went into a Super Over.
With 12 runs needed from three balls, Jones smashed a full toss from Rauf to square leg for a six and then hit a single off the final ball to reduce the target to five. Netravalkar then gave up just one to Shadab to seal a historic win for his team.
With PTI input
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