The US successfully defended a 19-run target in the Super Over challenge against Pakistan as earlier they managed to tie the score in the nail-biting 20-over play.
The match between Pakistan and the US was decided in the Super Over as the hosts managed to level the score on the last ball of the last over.
Pakistan lost the match by 5 five runs in the one-over eliminator.
Pakistan posted a 160-run target while batting first which the US managed to levelled on the last ball of the last over as they concluded their innings at 159-3.
In the Super Over, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir took the ball and the US concluded their innings 18-1 and in reply, Pakistan could only score 13-1 and ended up losing the match by five runs.
The US batted with caution throughout the match and they managed to take the game deep. Their skipper Monank Patel led the charge from the front and scored 50 runs before being dismissed by Mohammad Amir.
The US needed 21 runs from 12 balls which is when Amir bowled an exceptional over as he only conceded six runs, leaving 15 runs to be defended in the last over.
Haris Rauf took the ball in the last over but things didn’t go the right-armer’s way. He was smashed for a six on his fourth ball of the over and the US then needed six runs from two balls. However, on the last ball of the innings, five were required off one and then Nitish Kumar scored a four to level the scores.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi went wicketless while Amir, Naseem Shah and Haris managed to bag one each.
“It’s a big achievement beating Pakistan and playing for the first time,” US captain and player of the match Monank Patel said.
“The way we played today I’m really proud of the boys and it was a complete team effort from ball one to the last ball.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam bemoaned his side’s batting performance.
“We didn’t capitalise with the bat and they took a lot of momentum. Credit to USA, they performed so well today. They were better than us in all aspects of the game,” Babar said.
Earlier in Pakistan’s innings, the US had a brilliant start with the ball as their bowlers sent the Pakistani top-order — Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan and Fakhar Zaman — back to the pavilion for just 26 runs.
However, after losing three wickets, skipper Babar Azam and Shadab Khan played with caution and put the struggling Pakistani side back in the game.
A 72-run partnership between Babar and Shadab helped Pakistan go on top once again but Shadab walked back to the pavilion after scoring 40 runs on 25 balls.
Right after Shadab’s dismissal, wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan got out on a golden duck and the wickets continued to fall.
Babar Azam scored 44 off 43. Iftikhar Ahmed departed after scoring 18 runs.
Shaheen Afridi (23 off 16 balls) provided crucial runs to Pakistan down the order and helped them conclude their innings at 159-7 in the allocated overs.
