Under the leadership of Babar Azam, Pakistan finally earned their first victory of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America, when they got over the line against Canada in the 107-run chase with seven wickets in hand, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
They started the tournament with a heart-breaking defeat in the hands of the USA side at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, where they struggled in their batting performance on a decent surface. Even when it came to the point of holding their nerve, Pakistan couldn’t do their best, accepting a ‘super-over’ defeat at the end.
Better performances were expected from the side, against arch-rival India. Under overcast conditions, they bowled beautifully to the batters, to set a target of 120 overs, which was very achievable on any surface. With less than fifty runs required at run-a-ball with seven wickets in hand, Pakistan were way ahead in the chase.
But a brilliant Jasprit Bumrah over, along with some funny and poor batting from the middle order of the 2009 champions, they bottled the chase, to fall short by six runs.
Florida weather stands between Pakistan’s qualification
In the 107-run chase, it was required that the ‘Men in Green’ reach the target in around 13 overs, but they took four more overs, as the ball was holding a bit on the surface. Mohammad Rizwan stood in the middle for his unbeaten knock of 53 runs at a strike rate of 100, to carry them over the line.
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They needed one of the USA or India to lose the game between these two sides, and with a huge bonus of net run rate, the aim was for a USA defeat. India’s seven-wicket win in the 11-run chase helped them in the context of the competition.
‘Good for us. We needed this win. Credit to the team. We started well and took wickets with the new ball. We had NRR on the back of our mind. The first six overs are very crucial here. You assess after 6 overs. Then we tried to take on the spinners.’ Babar expressed at the end of the Canada game. ‘We are going to go with the same mindset. The conditions at Florida should be better from here as well. I got out to the same shot. So, I was angry. I still try my level best.’
The whole USA leg has moved to Florida, where the Babar Azam-led side will take on Ireland in their last game on June 16, and that game will be played after the co-host meets Ireland on June 14.
For the qualification scenario of the American team, they need only one point the get the final push, and a win or even a wash-out will be enough for them to knock out the 2009 champions,
On the other hand, Pakistan have so many calculations in its mind. If the USA and Ireland games get washed out, then their game against the latter will be meaningless, and the same will happen if the USA collects the victory.
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Now the weather seems to be a huge issue for them in Florida, which has already seen the Nepal and Sri Lanka games getting abandoned due to persistent rain. AccuWeather also suggests that June 14, on which the USA takes on Ireland have a forecast of cloudy and humid with thunderstorms and additional rain which could cause flooding problems.
If that game gets washed out, then Pakistan will be eliminated from the group stage. If that encounter goes on and Ireland beats the co-host, Pakistan will aim for a big win, on June 16, on which the forecast has been of cloudy with a few showers.
If the runners-up from the last edition of the tournament go on to get eliminated from the group stage, then they may need to take part in the qualifiers to be able to play the next T20 World Cup in 2026.