Top line
The United States men’s national cricket team defeated cricket giants Pakistan by five runs in a massive victory on Thursday in Dallas, marking their second group stage win of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The USA are now 2-0 in the first round of the cup. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Key facts
The clash between the USA and Pakistan, the latter finalist in the last T20 World Cup and champion in 2009, ended in a draw in regulation, with both teams scoring 159 runs and sending the match to super over, a period of overtime.
USA scored 18 runs in the super over, defeating Pakistan by five runs.
The turnaround is the USA’s second group stage victory at the T20 World Cup, boosting its chances of reaching the second stage of the competition, known as the Super 8s.
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Amazing fact
Saurabh Netravalkar, who knocked down the super for the USA, is a former under-19 player for the Indian team. Netravalkar moved to the US after playing for India and now works full-time at Oracle, according to his LinkedIn profile.
What to watch out for
The USA still have two matches left in the first round of the T20 World Cup, facing India and Ireland next weekend. India won the first T20 World Cup.
Main fund
The T20 World Cup began in 2007, providing one of cricket’s shortest playing formats and becoming one of the sport’s premier international competitions. This year’s edition is co-hosted by the USA and West Indies, providing both teams with automatic qualification. This is the first time that the USA has participated in a T20 World Cup. Although Australia, England and India have been designated as title favorites this year, the USA have remained firmly out of that conversation, sitting 18th in the T20 rankings – Pakistan are number 6. However, given the Americans’ solid form throughout From their clashes in April and the shock victory over Pakistan on Thursday, expectations about how far they can go in this year’s T20 World Cup may be changing.
Further reading
How competitive will the USA be in the T20 Cricket World Cup? (Forbes)
T20 Cricket World Cup is more inclusive as US team makes history (Forbes)
