Unexpected, Shocking, Shameful and Black Day in Pakistan cricket history. These are some of the harsh reactions that came after Pakistan’s shocking defeat in a Super Over against the supposedly minnows, the United States of America.
Most of the USA players are part time cricketers as the sport of cricket has not taken proper roots as far as making a career out of is concerned. Five of the cricketers have Indian origin including captain Monank Patel who is from Indian Gujrat. Three each are from Pakistan and Britain and one from South Africa. But these part timers gave a lesson of cricket to full timers and affluent players of Pakistan.
It was an upset long coming for Pakistan. Pakistan’s build up was chaotic and they did not have a single warm-up match at the venue. The defeat to Ireland was a shocker while the two negative results in England were expected. The announcement of the World Cup squad on the deadline also left question marks on the preparations. So, the picture was not bright when the team landed in the USA.
But nobody expected Pakistan to lose the first match. It was the last match against Ireland on June 16 which looked threatening. That game was due to decide whether Pakistan will qualify for Super Eight or not.
But after defeat against the co-hosts Pakistan’s hopes to progress hang in the balance.
To start with, Pakistan batters were, shockingly and surprisingly, scary. The start of the innings was insipid and Mohammad Rizwan fell to a brilliant catch in the slip. Usman Khan played just two balls for three runs and injudiciously decided to lift the third ball and was caught at long-off. Fakhar Zaman looked in a mood to thrash the US bowlers but played a shot too many and his paddle sweep ended up in safe hands of a fielder. Pakistan was tottering at 30-3 after the power-play.
The most disheartening aspect was Babar Azam’s snail-paced scoring. He was only nine off 23 deliveries and hit his first boundary off the 25th delivery. Uninspiring for the rest of the batting. For a batter of world class status, Babar should have batted freely but it was not the case. Pakistan managed 159-7 thanks to some late order hitting by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Babar, the captain, was as insipid as the batter. Like always, Babar’s shoulders dropped after looking at the scoreboard. That has been kryptonite for Pakistan. There was only one slip with Shaheen and Mohammad Amir operating with the new ball and that too was very wide, almost a fourth slip or gully. An edge off Monank Patel flew between the keeper and wide slip. It could have been a wicket had there been a first slip.
Pakistan continued to wait for wickets as USA inched towards the target. But some accurate bowling stifled the scoring rate and Pakistan sniffed victory. Mohammad Amir bowled a good penultimate over and that left 15 runs to defend for Haris Rauf. The fit-again pacer conceded just three in as many deliveries but all hell broke loose when Aron Jones hit a six off the fourth and Nitish Kumar clouted a boundary to force a Super Over.
Pakistan’s choice to choose Mohammad Amir for the Super Over was based on his economical 19th over but the now veteran left-armer erred badly, bowling three wide balls and costing 18 in all. One more surprise was in store when Fakhar Zaman did not face the Super Over and was left stranded at the end as Pakistan managed 13-1.
It was a great occasion for the USA team. They have shown progress by leaps and bounds, having defeated Ireland in 2021 and defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in the build-up to the World Cup. They roped in former Australian batter and acclaimed coach Stuart Law who has brought an Australian mentality in the players.
Patel was ecstatic after the win. “Beating Pakistan is a momentous occasion,” said Patel. “It was an unbelievable performance from our side. We know the pressure was on Pakistan and not us. We also knew that we didn’t have enough support from the crowd and we knew that it would backfire on Pakistan.”
Party Poppers are part-timers:
Patel does business but has made a career out of cricket. Spearhead Netravalkar is a computer engineer and plays only after work time. He took two wickets in the match and then bowled a canny Super Over to snatch victory from Pakistan. Spinner Kenjige, the best bowler in the match, worked as technician in a hospital while Nitish Kumar was doing a job from 9-5 and then play and coach from 6-10 with weak-ends off. That shows how passion plays a part in the progress of USA players as they outshone full time players from Pakistan.
Where do Pakistan go from here:
Pakistan team is now in a must-win situation in their all three remaining matches, India on Sunday, Canada two days later and a threatening Ireland on June 16. If they lose to India even then they have a chance but they will have to depend on other results.
