Pakistan’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign got off to a horrendous start as they lost their first match of the tournament to the USA in a thrilling Super Over at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Pakistan looked mediocre in both batting and bowling, and their captain Babar Azam blamed their terrible performance with both bat and ball in hand during the power play for the defeat against the co-hosts.
He also admitted that they did not “properly assess the conditions” and this also had a negative impact on them.
“We couldn’t capitalize on the first six overs while batting. We gained momentum, but the goals hurt us,” Babar said during the post-match presentation.
“(Bowling) We weren’t on track in the first six. We didn’t score goals, neither did the spinners. We came back in the end but couldn’t finish well. I hope we will do well in the future. (The result makes it very tough. The credit goes to the USA, who performed well in all three sections. That’s why there was moisture on the pitch. As professionals, we had to assess the conditions better,” he added.
Babar himself, as a batsman and captain, had a match to forget. The right-hander struggled to find the gaps and rotate the shots early in the match, which put enormous pressure on the other batsmen and they caved in trying to up the ante.
At one point, the Pakistan captain was batting at a strike rate of less than 50.00 and it was only the arrival of Shadab Khan in the midfield that brought him some relief.
Shadab played some attacking shots and put the pressure back on the US bowlers. This allowed Babar to find the right touch and he was eventually dismissed with a score of 44 off 43 balls.