Pakistan faced a shocking defeat against the USA in their opening match of the T20 World Cup group stage on Thursday. The hosts, playing in their first-ever edition of the tournament, clinched a thrilling Super Over win after both teams tied on 159 after 20 overs. Pakistan, the 2009 champions and previous edition’s finalists, recovered from a poor start to score 159-7, but the hosts plundered 14 runs from their final over to finish on 159-3 and send the match to a Super Over.
Mohammad Amir, who was instrumental for Pakistan with a solid 19th over where he conceded only six runs, failed to replicate the heroics in the Super Over, conceding 18 before Pakistan were restricted five runs short.
Following the match, however, a video has gone viral showing Amir telling Babar Azam not to opt for a spinner after the former completed his 15th over in the USA’s run chase. Amir could be heard saying on the stump mic that the batter – Aaron Jones – plays spinners well and it would be wise to bowl a fast bowler in the next over.
Babar, however, bowled Shadab Khan in the 16th over, with Jones smashing a six off his fourth delivery as the six balls from the spinner fetched 11 runs.
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Despite a positive over for the United States, Pakistan made a comeback in the match with the hosts needing 15 overs off the final six deliveries in the game. However, Haris Rauf failed to step up, conceding a boundary off the final ball to trigger a Super Over.
Pakistan also made a tactical blunder during their chase in the Super Over as Fakhar Zaman, the aggressive left-handed batter, didn’t take the strike against left-armer Sourabh Netrawalkar.
“Left-arm batter plays a left-arm pacer better. Shadab (Khan) worked a lot to score those 40 runs. It doesnt mean he has form or can go in the crunch moments and score fours or sixes. We don’t have fancy shots, we didn’t use reverse flick or a ram shot. Fakhar Zaman got left at the non-striker’s end. So tactically, this was a big mistake,” former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja pointed it out on his YouTube channel after the match.
Pakistan face India next
The side faces another tough test in its second T20 World Cup match on Sunday, as it faces a strong Indian team in New York. India made a cruising start to the campaign earlier this week, defeating Ireland by 8 wickets in a fairly one-sided contest at the same venue.
