Confident USA seek T20 World Cup upset against patchy Pakistan (2024)

Who: Pakistan vs USA
What: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Group A match
When: Thursday, June 6, 10:30am local time (15:30 GMT)
Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, US
How to follow: Follow Al Jazeera’s live text coverage here.

USA will look to carry the momentum of their win in the opening match of the T20 World Cup when they meet an out-of-form Pakistan side in their Group A match in Dallas.

The co-hosts romped home to a seven-wicket win over their neighbours Canada, thanks to a belligerent knock by Aaron Jones, and USA’s captain Monank Patel believes his side can cause an early upset in the tournament by beating Pakistan on Thursday.

“It’s T20 [cricket], once we have good 30-40 minutes on the field, we can take the game away [from Pakistan],” Patel told reporters in his pre-match news conference.

“We have a vision to qualify in the Super Eight [stage] and want to focus on one game at a time,” he said.

Good morning, Dallas! 🤩#TeamUSA is all set for their 2nd match of the @ICC @T20WorldCup! 💪🔥

🏏 USA 🆚 Pakistan
⏰ 8:30 AM PDT | 10:30 AM CDT | 11:30 AM EDT
📍 Dallas, Texas
📺 Willow#T20WorldCup | #WeAreUSACricket 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0XXtxBw0bT

— USA Cricket (@usacricket) June 6, 2024

The USA team comprises a mix of players, most of whom are of South Asian heritage. Jones, their hero in the first match, grew up in the Caribbean while they also have players who began their careers in South Africa and New Zealand.

Patel insists it is “good to have diversity” in the side but said they all come together when they plan for the USA.

USA will be wary of the challenge posed by the 2009 champions, especially their captain and star batter Babar Azam.

“Babar is a great batsman in all formats [of cricket] so his wicket will be really important,” Patel admitted.

USA’s strength lies in their experienced batting lineup but Patel said his side will face a stiff challenge from Pakistan’s pace attack, especially Mohammad Amir whom they will have to “tackle well.”

Amir, who is returning to a Pakistan World Cup squad after four years, said he wants to “chip in” with regular seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah.

“I’ve come back to a great dressing room and we have very clear plans for each player,” Amir said in Wednesday’s news conference.

The 32-year-old, who was part of Pakistan’s title-winning side in 2009, said the team has moved on from their recent T20 series loss against England and are ready to start the tournament with a win.

“In World Cups, there’s no margin for error so we are mentally and physically ready to win.”

Pitch and weather conditions

The tournament’s opening match was played in Dallas and both teams were able to score in the 190s, which will be a good sign for fans who have been left concerned after the low-scoring encounters in New York.

The weather forecast is clear and sunny for the day match at the Grand Prairie Stadium.

Head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between the two sides in any format of cricket.

Form

Pakistan have had a mixed run going into the tournament, winning a T20 series away to Ireland but losing one against England last month.

USA will be brimming with confidence as they go into the match with a win in the bag and a 2-1 series win over Bangladesh last month.

Pakistan: L L W W L
USA: W L W W W

Pakistan team news

Pakistan will have to take a call on dropping experienced leg-spinner Shadab Khan to accommodate a four-man seam attack. They could also drop out-of-form wicketkeeper Azam Khan for top-order batter Saim Ayub.

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

USA team news

USA are unlikely to tinker with the XI that brought them their first-ever World Cup win against Canada.

Squad: Monak Patel (captain), Shayan Jahangir, Andries Gous, Nitish Kumar, Steven Taylor, Harmeet Singh, Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jessy Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nosthush Kenjige