Dallas (USA): Former India pacer Irfan Pathan took an indirect jibe at the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for arguably the slowest innings played by him against the Monank Patel-led USA side saying "you aren't helping your team cause." The co-hosts USA pulled off an early upset by defeating one of the Pakistan in a Super Over thriller of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at Grand Prairie Stadium here on Thursday.
Men in Green lost three wickets early on the Dallas surface, which was less tenacious and unpredictable compared to New York. Babar needed to bat through and play a long innings from one end at a healthy strike rate. However, the right-hand batter ended up scoring only 44 runs off 43 balls in the match at a strike rate of 102.33. Pakistan captain managed to collect only four runs off 14 balls during the fielding restrictions, resulting in Pakistan recording their fifth-lowest T20I powerplay score.
In a format where 200+ runs are being chased easily, the batters are now being judged on how fast they can score runs for their team and not averages. Despite being under pressure, cricket experts and commentators including Harsha Bhogle and Pathan didn't like the way Babar approached his innings against the USA, a team which is playing their first T20 World Cup.
Pathan slammed the Pakistan skipper for his knock and felt that Babar didn't help his team's cause. "On a fairly decent batting condition as a captain if you are playing 40+ ball innings with 100 strike rate. You aren't helping your team cause," Pathan wrote on X.
Harsha's views also sync with the former India pacer's view. He felt that the Pakistan captain was completely out of rhythm. "I have seen Babar Azam play many fine innings. This 44(43) won't be among them. On a decent surface, he looked strangely out of rhythm," Harsha wrote on his X.
Recapping the game, Pakistan managed to crawl to 159/7 after Shadab Khan scored a quick 40 off 24 balls, boosting his side's run rate after losing three important wickets early on, and then Shaheen Shah Afridi came in and pulled off a couple of big hits at the end. In a chase, the USA looked well poised to chase down the total. After Andries Gous and the captain Monank Patel brought up a 68-run partnership. But Pakistan made inroads of a comeback with the pacers hitting consistent line and length. With five needed on the final ball, Nitish Kumar struck a four to send the game to Super Over.
Experienced quick Mohammad Amir who shined in the penultimate over was handed the ball to bowl the final six deliveries. But it turned out to be a complete mess as it saw a couple of overthrows and a missed field along with two wides and gave away 18 runs. In reply, Pakistan folded on 13/1 and allowed the USA to walk away with a 5-run win. This is the 3rd defeat for Pakistan in four tied games (super overs & bowl out) and two wins for USA in as many Super Overs.
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