USA upset Babar Azam's Pakistan with a thrilling win in super over as former Indian players steal the show

Co-hosts USA became the giant slayer on June 6 at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas. Monank Patel-led USA gave no freebies to Babar Azam’s Pakistan as they beat them in super over. It can be termed as the first upset of the tournament but it has to be taken account that this USA side beat Bangladesh in a T20I series leading up to the tournament. USA became the first associate nation to beat Pakistan in T20Is. After beating Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosts USA reached the top of the Group A points table.

Good finish after horrendous start

Earlier, Patel won the toss and opted to field first. Mohammad Rizwan off the third ball opened his account with a six. Left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar squared him up as Steven Taylor took a stunning catch at first slip. Left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige was introduced into the attack and he delivered with the wicket of Usman Khan. Fakhar Zaman opened his account with a six as well before getting out to Ali KHan in an attempt to play a lap sweep. Pakistan were 30/3 after powerplay overs with Babar struggling for four runs from 14 balls.
 

After three boundaryless overs, Shadab Khan went after Jessy Singh hitting two consecutive sixes. Babar hit the first boundary of his knock in the 10th over. Shadab and Babar targetted Harmeet Singh hitting him for a six each in the 19-run over. Kenjige was brought back into the attack and he got the wicket of Shadab. The all-rounder scored 40 runs from 25 balls including one four and three sixes. Azam Khan failed to make an impact and got out lbw for a golden duck.

In the 16th over, Babar hit Jessy Singh for a six. In the same over, he got out lbw. The skipper scored 44 runs from 43 balls including three fours and a couple of sixes. Iftikhar Ahmed contributed with a 14-ball 18. He was dimissed lbw by Netravalkar in the penultimate over. Shaheen hit a couple of sixes to get Pakistan's score to 159/7. Afridi scored 23 runs from 16 balls.

Spirited run chase

USA's run chase got off to a steady start. Patel hit a few boundaries. In the sixth over, Naseem Shah got the better of Steven Taylor who scored 12 runs from 16 balls. USA were 44/1 after six overs. Andries Gous got off to a good start as well with a few boundaries. Gous hit the innings' firts six in the 10th over. USA were 76/1 at the halfway stage. Gous and Patel continued to put pressure on Pakistan bowlers with timely boundaries. In the 13th over, Patel reached his half-century with a six off Afridi. He took 34 balls to reach the milestone.

Rauf came back into the attack and knocked over Gous. He scored 35 runs from 26 balls incuding five fours and a six. In the next over, Amir ended Patel's stay at the crease. His 38-ball 50 featured seven fours and a six. In the 16th over, Aaron Jones slog-swept Shadab for a six. Naseem bowled an economical over conceding just six runs. In the penultimate over, Amir conceded just six runs. 15 runs were needed in the final over. Jones was dropped at mid-off by Afridi on the second ball. Jones hit a six off the fourth ball. On the last ball, five runs were needed and Nitish Kumar hit a boundary. The game progressed to the super over. 

Super Over action

In the super over, Babar handed the ball to Amir. Jones and Harmeet batted for Pakistan. Amir was off target and bowled a few wides. Sloppy fielding added to the score. Despite just one boundary, USA scored 19 runs.
 

Iftikhar and Zaman walked out to bat whereas Patel handed the ball to Netravalkar. After bowling a dot ball, he conceded a boundary. He bowled a wide ball but followed it up with a low full-toss. Iftikhar went for the big shot but got caught at long-off as Milind Kumar took an exceptional catch. Shadab got a lucky boundary but he could not finish off the run chase as Pakistan managed to score 13 runs. 
 

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