The T20 World Cup was finally back, but it needed a major upset to get there. Two-time world champions Pakistan received an early shock when they lost to debutants USA in a Group A match in Dallas, Texas. The Americans fought hard to level Pakistan’s total of 159 and take the match to a Super Over, where the home team capitalized on a shaky six from Mohammed Amir, scoring 18 runs off him. The USA then turned to left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who kept his cool and led his team to a famous five-run victory that will forever remain in the annals of American cricket.
The win sparked emotional scenes across the US and Dallas. People in the famous Times Square were in ecstasy and the Pakistani crowd was red-faced. Amidst all the pandemonium, India head coach Rahul Dravid was spotted on the subway. He was closely following the USA vs Pakistan match on his mobile phone and did not take his eyes off it till the last ball was bowled to deliver the famous victory. A photo of Wall calmly watching the match has since gone viral on social media.
Whatever the outcome, Dravid will have taken a footnote from this match. India next play Pakistan on Sunday and then the United States three days later on June 12. If there’s one thing the T20 format has taught us, it’s that you should never take any team lightly. Pakistan are an ODI and T20 World Cup-winning team and their comprehensive defeat against a team that is still finding its footing at this level is a harsh wake-up call for them.
Progress of the match
Something seemed amiss for Pakistan from the start. Netravalkar, Noush Kenjige and Ali Khan wreaked havoc in the powerplay, pushing Pakistan to 26/3. Babar Azam’s 44 off 43 balls was the only valuable contribution from the top of the order, but Shadab Khan’s 40 off 25 balls propelled Pakistan to 159/7. In response, the USA lost opener Steven Taylor for 12, but a solid 66-run partnership between captain Monak Patel and Andries Guth put them on track to reach the target.
Aaron Jones and Nitish Kumar then combined for an unbeaten partnership of 49 to take the match to a Super Over which the USA was ultimately victorious. This was only the fifth drawn match in T20 World Cup history; Pakistan has drawn twice before; the first was the famous bowl-out against India in 2007. Interestingly, the USA sits atop the Group A points table with two wins from two matches.
“Beating Pakistan in our first match is a big achievement. It was a flawless performance. We took advantage of the conditions. We restricted them to 160, which helped us chase down. I’m happy with my contribution but even happier that we won,” US captain Patel said.
“We won the toss and the way we bowled the first six balls was what won us the game. We took wickets and did well until 12. Shadab, Babar grabbed their chances and we knew they would. We knew it was a score to chase and we needed the top three to work together. With myself and Goose we played until 12 and the match was in our hands. When you play in a World Cup, it’s not something you can do every year. Against Pakistan we knew we had to give it our all on every ball. It was a total team effort.”
