USA clutch historic win against Pakistan after Super Over | T20 WC Match 11

After a tense super over, USA successfully beat Pakistan in their first ever encounter. Pakistan's first ever loss to a non-full member side in T20Is and the USA's second Test-playing nation beat after Bangladesh.

From the start, Pakistan was rocked early on after Netravalkar, Kenjige, and Ali Khan took a wicket each leaving Pakistan reeling 26/3 off 4.4. However, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan built a steady partnership getting 44 off 43 and 40 off 25 respectively, with overs going for 19 and 20. In the 13th over, Kenjige struck twice getting Shadab Khan and next Azam Khan for a golden duck. Jasdeep Singh removed Babar Azam in the 16th over and finally Netravalkar finished his brilliant spell by dismissing Iftikhar Ahmed ending with 2/18, leaving Pakistan 159/7.

With the target of 160, Naseem Shah rocked USA early by dismissing Steven Taylor (12), however Monank Patel and Andries Gous built a steady partnership seeing the team to 100. Haris Rauf finally broke the partnership by dismissing Gous for 35. Monank Patel got 50 (38) leading USA but fell in the very next over. Nitish Kumar and Aaron Jones played solidly leading USA to 15 needed off the last over against Haris Rauf and after three consecutive singles it was 12 needed from 3, a seemingly impossible feat. Aaron Jones showcased his prowess by hitting a massive six. With 6 needed off 2, a brilliant ball by Rauf forced Jones to switch strike for a single. With pressure on both sides, it was five need from last ball, and a slip up from Rauf led to a low full-toss and Nitish Kumar played it down the ground for four, leading to a Super Over.

USA came to bat first with Aaron Jones and Harmeet Singh, and opened with a near perfect start with a four. However, Mohd. Amir came back with a 2 and a 1, but wasn't finding his lengths or lines after as the left-hander Harmeet threw his radar off prompting him to conceed plenty of wides. Pakistan's poor bowling and fielding allowed USA to get 18/1 off the Super Over.

Netravalkar was to bowl for USA against the Pakistani batters, Iftikhar and Fakhar. Iftikhar after facing a dot got off the mark with a four. With the pressure on him, Netravalkar bowled a wide but came back with a wicket, largely due to brilliant catch from Milind Kumar. Netravalkar bowled another wide and followed with a perfect yorker that led to a streaky boundary. After a two, it was 7 needed from last ball, an extremely tough feat if the bowler could nail his yorker. Netravalkar nailed the wide yorker and secured the historic victory for USA, placing them at the top of their division. Defying all odds, this win will make it difficult for Pakistan to qualify for the Super 8.