Pakistan defeated the United States by 32 runs thanks to a strong half-century from opener Sahibzada Farhan and three wickets from spinner Usman Tariq in Tuesday’s T20 World Cup Group A match in Colombo.
Chasing a 191-run target, the US batters were reduced to 158/8 by Pakistan’s highly effective spin combination of Usman Tariq (3/27), Abrar Ahmed (1/30), Shadab Khan (2/26), and Mohammad Nawaz (1/21).
After their narrow three-wicket victory against the Netherlands on Saturday, the victory gave Pakistan their second straight victory and exacted revenge for their shocking loss to the USA in the T20 World Cup two years ago.
Prior to being dismissed by pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was participating in his 100th T20 international, Shubham Ranjane led the USA with a heroic 30-ball 51 that included three sixes and as many fours.
Opener Shayan Jahangir hammered his way to an eye-catching 34-ball 49 that included two sixes and five fours, while Milind Kumar struck 29, before the United States lost the match after falling down 123-3.
Earlier, Pakistan scored 190-9 thanks to a strong half-century from opener Sahibzada Farhan.
As Pakistan, who were sent in to bat, took advantage of a decent batting surface, the 29-year-old hammered five sixes and six fours in his 41-ball 73, helped by a spectacular 32-ball 46 from Babar Azam (four fours, one six).
Before Pakistan suffered two wicket losses in the sixth over of the innings, which was delivered by Shadley van Schalkwyk, Farhan and fellow opener Saim Ayub, who struck 17-ball 19 with two sixes, put on 54 in five overs.
Salman Agha, the captain, holed out on the deep square-leg boundary for one, while Ayub was caught off a slower one. Then, as Pakistan dominated the middle overs, Farhan and Azam put on an 81-run third-wicket partnership.
In his 41st encounter, Farhan reached 1,000 T20 international runs before being caught in the covers by spinner Harmeet Singh in the 16th over. Before Pakistan dropped five wickets for just 13 runs in the final two overs, Shadab Khan went on a rampage to hit 30 off 12 balls.
Schalkwyk was the standout bowler for the USA, finishing with impressive figures of 4/25, coming on the back of his four-wicket haul against India in Saturday’s 29-run loss.
