Babar Azam was left infuriated and shouted angrily at Haris Rauf after he conceded a boundary on the final ball of the United States innings to draw the game and take it to the super over.
Babar Azam was left infuriated and shouted angrily at Haris Rauf after he conceded a boundary on the final ball of the United States innings to draw the game and take it to the super over. Pakistan had the game in their pocket but panicked under pressure to lose their opening encounter of the T20 World Cup 2024.
With five runs required off the final delivery, Babar Azam decided to bring mid-off into the circle, meaning Rauf had to keep his length shorter and into the body. However, Haris went for the yorker and missed his mark, leading to a full toss delivery, to which Nitish Kumar calmly elevated over the mid-off fielder for a four.
Babar couldn’t control him and yelled at Haris for his off-plan bowling when he could have easily bowled anywhere on the shorter side. Indeed, Haris’ decision to land it into the blockhole was perplexing, given there was no long-off.
Nitish was struggling before that delivery but was calm to clear the fielder in the ring and take the game to the super over. It is not the first time Babar has lost his calm in crunch moments, for he has vented his frustration on his bowlers numerous times before.
United States, who have impressed one and all with their game this T20 World Cup, caused one of the biggest upsets by defeating Pakistan in the super over in a nail-biting encounter. Bowling first, they restricted Pakistan to 159/7 – thanks to a collective bowling display by the bowlers.
While chasing, the top-order did well to keep USA in the chase, but their chase dented due to quick wickets. However, the middle order was calm enough to take the game to the super over.
Scenes from USA’s stunning victory in Dallas 😍🇺🇸#T20WorldCup #USAvPAK pic.twitter.com/bTipZM8env
— ICC (@ICC) June 6, 2024
In the super over, USA batted well and got some help from the Pakistan bowler, who bowled plenty of loose deliveries to aid USA. Later, Saurabh Netravalkar held his nerves and defended the target to make it two in two for his team.
Pakistan’s fielding was shambolic as well. They were not ruthless enough, which cost them eventually.
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