Historic win for US against Pakistan in T20 World Cup – Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports

Spare a thought for Haris Rauf before you join this US party. A decent bowler by acceptable standards, he will be remembered for two sixes he conceded in his career. The first one came two years ago from the bat of Virat Kohli. It was possibly the shot of the history of T20Is. The second, off a rank full toss, tossed Pakistan out of this high-voltage T20 World Cup thriller in Dallas.

The 50-over World Cup has seen its share of upsets featuring Pakistan. Against Bangladesh in 1999 and Ireland in 2007. There are more. What transpired today in front of a packed house in downtown Dallas must rank top in the history of supernatural outcomes of the T20 World Cup. The US edging out Pakistan in a game they dominated and almost nearly slip out of their grasp was outrageous.

With the US needing 12 to score off three balls, the match was in Pakistan’s pocket. After a lot of ebb and flow, twists and turns, it had finally settled into their vicinity. One good ball. Just one! That was the need of the moment and that’s when Rauf bowled a full toss on the legs of Aaron Jones. Kept busy by toe-crushers hitherto, the right-hander made full contact.

It was not game, set and match for the US quite yet, but the writing was on the wall. They had broken the mental barrier. Nothing was going to stop them after that. Four off the last ball to tie scores and then four off the first ball of the Super Over that yielded 18, it was curtains for Pakistan, and the beginning of a new era in a land where cricket is trying to find its footsteps.

It was supreme bowling led by some robustly-built, stout-looking fast bowlers which landed Pakistan in early trouble. This was serious bowling, no run-in and hope what happens kind of stuff from the likes of Nosthush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar and their aides. They hit the bat and asked questions. Pakistan seemed to have recovered, but did not reach a zone of comfort.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir and Nasim Shah brought Pakistan right back in it. It seemed as if they had done enough to have settled the matter altogether. But the US had wickets in hand. They also showed how to put bat to ball with clinical efficiency when it came to the crunch. The rest is history.