Pakistan tackle the USA within the T20 World Cup tomorrow. Learn our in-depth preview right here…
Pakistan overcame one tough fixture on the weekend however stroll straight into one other in Colombo after they tackle the United States tomorrow.
The USA prompted one of many greatest shocks in T20 World Cup historical past two years in the past after they beat Pakistan in a Tremendous Over, they usually weren’t removed from eclipsing that on Saturday solely to be denied by India captain Suryakumar Yadav in Mumbai.
Yadav smashed a superb 84 not out whereas these round him failed earlier than Mohammed Siraj did the injury with the ball for the event co-hosts.
The US left with an infinite quantity of credit score and Pakistan paceman Salman Mirza says no-one must be shocked by the performances of the Affiliate Members any extra.
“That’s the great thing about cricket; shut video games are nice to look at,” he mentioned. “The primary goal is to win the match. We received the sport towards the Netherlands and can attempt to win the upcoming video games as properly.
“T20 cricket is a format the place I imagine there’s little or no distinction between two groups. One good innings or one good spell could make the distinction, and the way in which matches have gone to this point proves that.”
Tomorrow’s recreation on the Sinhalese Sports activities Membership is the primary day/night time T20I staged on the venue, including one other layer of intrigue.
“As soon as we get to the bottom and assess the circumstances, solely then can we plan correctly. As the sport progresses, we’ll hold tweaking our strategy accordingly,” Mirza added.
“In night time video games, quick bowlers normally get a little bit of help. We’ll see tomorrow what the circumstances are like and whether or not there’s any dew.”
Pakistan’s win towards the Netherlands was impressed by Faheem Ashraf’s lower-order heroics in a gap encounter that was too shut for consolation for his or her legions of followers.
Assuming they do boycott the sport with India – talks between the cricket boards of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are ongoing – then there’s once more no room for error for Salman Agha’s workforce. A defeat right here and qualification for the subsequent stage can be very troublesome.
Staff Information for Pakistan v USA
Babar Azam went into the sport with the Netherlands underneath strain however his 18-ball 15 did little to silence the critics of the previous Pakistan captain. However, he can be given one other probability to impress.
The US are prone to be with out bowler Ali Khan as a consequence of damage.
Predicted line-ups for Pakistan v USA
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed
USA: Andries Gous (wk), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Monank Patel (c), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar
The best way to watch Pakistan v USA
The T20 World Cup can be proven solely stay within the UK on Sky Sports. You may stream it on the Sky Go app.
For protection elsewhere on this planet, click on HERE for particulars of your native rights holder.
Prediction
Pakistan really want their most skilled gamers to return to the fore. Babar and paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi have been off-colour for a while and their enter is required if Pakistan are to go deep within the competitors.
Earlier than entertaining any ideas of the Tremendous Eights, Pakistan need to navigate one other nasty check towards a USA workforce with nothing to lose and every little thing to realize.
A repeat of 2024 seems to be a stretch however this could possibly be one other topsy-turvy encounter that might go all the way in which.
We fancy Pakistan to edge it as a result of they’ve extra matchwinners of their line-up. It’s unlikely to be simple, although.
