United States’ Muhammad Ali-Khan, second right, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between United States and Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) — The United States scored a major upset at the T20 World Cup by beating heavyweights Pakistan in the super over on Thursday.
It was the co-host’s second straight victory in Group A after it romped to seven-wicket win over Canada.
Aaron Jones, who smashed a 40-ball unbeaten 94 in the opening game, once again starred for the home team when he helped stretched the game into super over with another vital knock of 36 not out off 26.
Jones hit a six and then a single before Nitish Kumar’s boundary off the final ball tied the score at 159 at the end of regulation.
Pakistan panicked in the super over when much experienced fast bowler Mohammad Amir gave away 18 runs that included seven runs off wide balls.
Left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who earlier bowled brilliantly and grabbed 2-18 off his four overs, conceded only 13 runs in the super over to earn the U.S. its most historic Twenty20 win against Pakistan, the 2022 runner–up and 2009 champion.
Netravalkar, 32, works as a software engineer at Oracle in the Bay Area.
Iftikhar Ahmed smashed boundary off the Netravalkar’s second ball, before holing out at long off as the left-arm seamer kept his cool and snatched a famous win for the U.S.
It was a disastrous start for captain Babar Azam’s Pakistan, which is due to meet archrival India in the next game at New York on Sunday.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Originally published at Associated Press