The United States pulled off one of cricket’s greatest upsets yesterday by defeating cricket powerhouse Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, a feat that remains incredible for a country where most people probably don’t know how to play cricket.
In the first match, they defeated Canada by a thumping seven wickets on a ground that was very favourable to batsmen. Tall left-handed batsman Aaron Jones, who had made a no-hit 94 off 40 balls against Canada, returned to the limelight as the co-hosts of the tournament with another brilliant knock of no-hit 36 off 26 balls to take the team to the Super Over.
Nitish Kumar hit a six off Haris Rauf, followed by a single and then a boundary off the final ball to seal the victory and level the score at 159 all out at the end of the match, but Pakistan’s experienced fast bowler was hurt by the final six.
“This is our first time playing against Pakistan and it’s a great achievement to win,” said U.S. captain Monankh Patel, who is also Indian-American.
Also see | The United States pulled off a cricket miracle, beating Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
From pitch to meme
It’s worth noting that five of the top 11 US cricketers were born in India, two in Pakistan and three in the UK – names like Harmeet Singh and Nisarg Patel – and social media denizens posted a flurry of poke fun at H-1b visa and IT memes.
“Oracle software engineers beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup,” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“Almost half of the US team is Indian. After India led team beat Pakistan, Americans found out they have a cricket team. All thanks to H1B XD,” commented another.
Also see | Where does the USA’s win over Pakistan rank among the biggest upsets? A look back at the five biggest shockers in T20 World Cup history
“This US World Cup team has Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and even Nepalis. I never imagined the US would represent the Indian state of Arkhand,” one user commented.
“It’s America, baby. A nation of immigrants,” another X user wrote.
“Immigrant engineer from Silicon Valley playing the Cricket World Cup in his spare time,” one user commented, alluding to Indian-American fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar.
“The US performed well in all three departments and that led to the win. We failed to capitalise on our chances in the first six overs. We were on a roll but successive wickets hurt us,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said after the match.
