World Cup boilover! USA stun Pakistan

The USA have caused one of the biggest upsets in Cricket World Cup history by stunning former T20 World Cup winners Pakistan in their pool game in Texas.

Chasing 160 to win, USA forced a Super Over after hitting 11 off the final three balls. They then made 18 off their Super Over with Pakistan making 13 in their reply.

Pakistan went into the tournament as the sixth ranked team in the world, while hosts USA are 18th. Pakistan face rivals India on Monday and another defeat could mean they rely on USA to lose Canada and Ireland.

Follow updates below:

The United States won the toss and elected to field against Pakistan in their Group A game at the T20 World Cup on Thursday.

The U.S. made a winning start to the tournament by beating Canada by seven wickets at the same venue in the opening game of the event, which it is co-hosting with the West Indies.

Aaron Jones smashed 10 sixes in his 40-ball unbeaten knock of 94 in that game and eased the U.S. to the 195-run target with 14 balls to spare.

“Chasing here is easier,” U.S. captain Monak Patel said at the toss. “The way we chased down the total (against Canada) it was entertaining. (We) have momentum and want to continue that. Excited for this challenge.”

The home team made one change and brought in Nosthush Kenjige in place of all-rounder Shadley van Schalkwyk.

Pakistan had an injury setback on the eve of its opening game when all-rounder Imad Wasim was ruled out with a side strain.

Pakistan has fallen back to its tried and tested opening pair of captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan after Saim Ayub couldn’t excel in the role of opening batter in the leadup matches to the World Cup.

Bad weather hampered Pakistan’s training sessions over the last week since it landed in the U.S. and its two practice sessions were moved to indoor facilities in Dallas.

Babar was happy to see the sun shine and play a morning game, which he described as a “test match conditions.”

Pakistan packed its bowling line-up with four frontline fast bowlers – Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf — with Shadab Khan as the lone specialist spinner.

Pakistan’s archrival India, which beat Ireland in its opening game, is the other team in Group A.

___

Lineups:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.

United States: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel (captain), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Corey Anderson, Nitish Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan.