GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) – Aaron Jones hit the ball out of the park again and the United States beat cricket heavyweights Pakistan in a Super Over tiebreaker for one of the biggest upsets ever in a Twenty20 World Cup.
After a match-winning performance in the tournament opener against Canada, Jones was instrumental again on Thursday in a dramatic win over 2022 runners-up Pakistan.
Cricket has a long but relatively little-known history in the United States. It is the national sport in Pakistan, a member of the Cricket Foundation and a three-time T20 World Cup finalist.
The star players are household names. While Jones and Team USA have flown under the radar.
“Playing against Pakistan for the first time in the World Cup and beating them, it was an unbelievable performance,” said USA captain Monank Patel. “โฆ beating Pakistan, you know, is a big achievement.”
Patel said that, as far as he was concerned, the US team’s campaign was about to go to plan.
“We don’t worry about what people say. We know what we’re worth and what we’re capable of, and we’re just focusing on this particular game,” he said. โWe don’t want to keep our emotions too high or too low.
“We’ll make sure that whatever the win is today, we’ll enjoy it and make sure the next day we’re fresh.”
It has been a disastrous start for captain Babar Azam’s Pakistan, who are set to meet fierce rivals India on Sunday in New York. Only the top two teams in each of the five-nation groups qualify for the play-offs.
“All credit to the USA,” Babar said, adding that the Americans performed well in the batting, bowling and fielding departments “and that’s why they won.”
“We couldn’t take advantage of the first six overs. We got the momentum, but the double dips hurt us.”
Overshadowed by the upset in Texas, Scotland went top of Group B with a five-wicket win over Namibia in Bridgetown, Barbados. Namibia scored 155-9 and Scotland reached the winning total with nine balls to spare.
The game in Grand Prairie went the whole distance, and beyond.
Jones, who smashed an unbeaten 40-ball 94 against Canada, once again starred for the tournament co-hosts when he extended the game into the Super Over with another important knock of 36 not out.
Off back-to-back deliveries, Jones hit a six off Haris Rauf and then a single before Nitish Kumar’s boundary off the last delivery of regulation leveled the score at 159.
Rauf, Pakistan’s experienced fast bowler, gave away 14 runs off the last six balls.
Pakistan panicked in the Super Over when 32-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who was part of the 2009 champion team, conceded 18 runs which included seven runs off wide balls as Jones went on the attack.
For the USA, Indian-born left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who took 2-18 from his four overs in regulation, conceded just 13 runs in the Super Over to seal the historic win for the USA.
The Americans were on course to stun Pakistan in regulation when skipper Patel hit 50 off 38 balls and Andries Gous added 35 to help the hosts reach 159-3.
Pakistan’s batsmen, struggling for a year in the shortest format of the sport, were further exposed against some disciplined USA bowling and were restricted to 159-7.
Steven Taylor gave the home side a perfect start when he took a stunning one-handed shot an inch off the pitch to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan in the second over off the bowling of Netravalkar.
Left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige (3-30) also troubled Pakistan, who slumped to 26-3 in the fifth over.
Babar (44) and Shadab Khan (40) looked to regain the momentum and combined for a 72-run stand before Kenjige departed in the 13th over.
Babar, who became the world’s leading T20 player to surpass Virat Kohli’s tally of 4,038 runs, appeared scratched in his 43-ball knock before falling leg before wicket to a Jasdeep Singh delivery in the 16th over as Pakistan slumped to 125-6.
It was only thanks to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 23 off 16 balls, including two late sixes, that they lifted Pakistan’s total.
SCOTLAND WINS
Captain Richie Berrington made an unbeaten 47 off 35 balls and shared a 74-run fifth-wicket partnership with Michael Leask (35 off 17) that led Scotland to their first win over Namibia in four T20 internationals.
Scotland took a point from their rain-out opener against England and now top Group B with three points, ahead of Australia and Namibia with two. Namibia beat Oman in a Super Over finish in their first match.
Australia play England on Saturday.
Captain Gerhard Erasmus made 52 off 30 balls and put on 51 for the fifth wicket with Zane Green (28) as Namibia made 155-9 after electing to rock.
Erasmus then took 2-14, bowling in the eighth and 10th overs, to leave Scotland 69-3 at the mid-wicket. But Berrington and Leask, who combined for 73-4 after 11 overs, steered Scotland to victory.
“I don’t think we’ll get over this for a while,” Leask said. “It’s an awful feeling.”
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