On Thursday, Team USA pulled off a stunning upset in cricket, beating Pakistan – a cricketing powerhouse – by five runs. The victory came in the group stage of the T20 World Cup, a tournament of the top 20 qualifying cricket teams in the world.
This year’s T20 World Cup marks the first time USA Cricket has qualified after receiving an automatic bid for hosting. The 2024 T20 tournament will be jointly organized by the USA and West Indies. Thursday’s unrest, played near Dallas, leaves the US top of Group A, which also includes India, Canada and Ireland.
The victory took place after a thrilling super-over, a tie-breaking method in cricket, similar to a penalty shootout. The US finished the super over with 18 runs, meaning Pakistan needed 19 to win; However, Team USA held on and Pakistan finished with 13 points, giving the Americans the historic victory.
USA DEFEATED PAKISTAN IN THE T20 CRICKET WORLD CUP
ONE OF THE BIGGEST DISRUPTIONS PROPOSED
PAKISTAN HAS MADE IT THE LAST TIME. ONLY THE US’S SECOND WORLD CUP MATCH EVER… AND WE WON THEM BOTH!!! pic.twitter.com/l1AGYFtBFW
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) June 6, 2024
The home win is particularly important for Team USA as cricket is largely not a popular sport in the US. Most American cricketers don’t play the sport full-time: one of the game’s heroes, pace bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, works full-time at software company Oracle. Oracle even took to social media after the game to congratulate their engineer on his success.
This victory could mark a turning point for the sport in the US. By making such a big impression in his first World Cup, USA Cricket can only go up from here.
The US faces India, another formidable opponent in cricket, on Wednesday for its next group stage match.
