Newcomers The United States of America (USA) stunned former champions Pakistan in the Super Over on Thursday, recording a historic win in a T20 World Cup contest that epitomized the shambolic state of Asian cricket. As a result, USA went to the top of Group A with two wins in a row before facing India. The USA trounced Canada by seven wickets in their opening fixture. Opting to field, left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige took three wickets for 30 runs as Pakistan struggled to press the accelerator and were restricted to 159/7 in 20 overs.

While chasing, the USA finished with the same score, 159 for 3, with skipper Monank Patel (50 off 38), Aaron Jones (36 not out of 26), and Andries Gous (35 off 26) leading from the front. Senior pacer Mohammad Amir bowled the Super Over for Pakistan, and the USA scored 18 runs, eight of which were extras. On the other hand, Indian-American bowler Saurabh Netravalkar held his composure and bowled well to hand away just 13 runs for a memorable triumph.

Earlier, USA’s choice to bowl first worked when Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed in the second over, caught by Steven Taylor off Netravalkar. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam played an anchoring innings of 44 before Jasdeep Singh trapped him LBW. Usman Khan and Fakhar Zaman were dismissed cheaply.
However, Shadab Khan’s cameo of 25-ball 40 kept Pakistan alive in the encounter.

Iftikhar Ahmed chipped in with 18 while Shaheen Afridi’s 23 helped Pakistan to reach a decent total. Nosthush Kenjige starred with a three-wicket haul for the USA while Netravalkar picked up two.
The USA began their chase on a positive note, scoring 44 runs on the powerplay. Patel led from the front, hitting successive boundaries off Afridi in the fourth over. Naseem Shah handed Pakistan the first breakthrough when Taylor nicked one to Rizwan behind the stumps. But new batter Gous meant business, scoring two fours in the same over. The USA’s body language was positive, with Patel and Gous leading the way. Patel demonstrated his ability on the off-side by scoring two successive boundaries off Iftikhar in the cover region.

Wickets were the order of the day for Pakistan, and they claimed the crucial scalp of Patel, who edged one to Rizwan off Amir. Jones, who had a brilliant performance against Canada, delivered once again and was joined by Nitish Kumar (14* of 14), who carried the contest into the Super Over.