Big picture
After opening day fixtures for both sides that could have easily had the opposite outcomes, Pakistan and USA face each other at a time the World Cup has finally found its feet. To the extent even the US President Donald Trump appeared to have found out about the tournament, weighing in to wish his side the best of luck ahead of their next game.Pakistan come into the fixture with a nervy win sealed by Faheem Ashraf’s penultimate over heroics against the Netherlands, while the USA hunt for their first points on the board after Suryakumar Yadav’s fireworks denied them one of cricket’s greatest upsets over India.USA, of course, know a thing or two about great cricketing upsets, having inflicted one on this very opponent two years ago, when they took Pakistan to a Super Over before applying the knockout blow. They have spent the last week demonstrating they retain the capability to spring a similar surprise, after running New Zealand exceptionally close in a warm-up game before that fright they gave India.
They will travel to Colombo from Mumbai and have little time to acclimatise, with less than 72 hours between the end of their previous game and the toss at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Once there, though, they know they have the ability to stifle Pakistan early on, just as they did with India. Injuries to Ali Khan and Shubham Ranjane could potentially cause bowling headaches, but in the disciplined seam of Shadley van Schalkwyk and the right and left arm spin of Mohammad Mohsin and Harmeet Singh, there were other avenues that discomfited India’s batters, too.
They will need more of a contribution from their top three, whose failure against India virtually sealed their fate in the first four overs, though the US will hope the likes of Andries Gous and captain Monank Patel have got their failure out of the way.
Pakistan may still be breathing sighs of relief after the get-out-of-jail card Faheem conjured up against the Netherlands. It was a win that showcased their fragility and lack of confidence at these events, having been knocked out of the last three ICC tournaments at the first hurdle. From a position of supreme comfort halfway through the chase, they imploded when a couple of wickets fell, and looked destined to throw the game away under the lightest of pressure from either the opposition or the match situation.
For Pakistan, with the boycott of the game against India on February 15 very much still on, this game, like all of their group games, feels very much like a knockout. They will be aware of the perils of even brief passages of play where the wheels come off or concentration sags being terminal to further involvement at the tournament. Fortunately for them, there wasn’t too much to complain as far as the fielding went, which was excellent, and little to worry about in the bowling department, where Pakistan got their spin and seam combination spot on, and still needed to use Saim Ayub and Faheem Ashraf for a combined one over.
The brittleness of their middle order and the alacrity with which it crumbled under pressure remains the biggest concern for Pakistan. Salman Ali Agha has promoted himself up the order while Babar Azam remains out of form. Under fire, Usman Khan is yet to be properly tested, while Pakistan will worry there’s not enough specialist batting quality to act as a shield before the procession of allrounders begins one spot too high in their lineup. It is a chink in their armour they are aware they need to conceal, but if the US can burrow through the top order, that soft underbelly could truly be exposed.
Pakistan will feel they have used a fair chunk of their fortune this tournament already, while the USA might be owed some.
Form guide
Pakistan: WWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
USA: LWWLW
In the spotlight
While the scrutiny never seems to leave Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s greatest contribution against the Netherlands was merely as support act for Babar’s splendid relay catch on the boundary on Saturday. The left-arm pacer endured a torrid opening game, particularly in the powerplay, where Michael Levitt targeted him and took 23 off two overs. It was a setback following his decent return from a ligament injury during Australia’s visit to Pakistan, but with wickets offering more support for seam than expected, Pakistan will want their senior quick to step up.It’s hard to look too far past Saurabh Netravalkar. His performance against Pakistan in 2024, and his professional backstory, which saw him take time off at Oracle as software engineer, caught the imagination of the cricketing world. He was the pick of the American bowlers, stifling Babar up top and removing Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed, conceding just 18 in four overs. But he saved his best heroics for last, defending 18 in the Super Over to give the USA its finest cricketing day on home soil.
Two years later, at the Wankhede for the Mumbai-born bowler, it was a more prosaic homecoming as he found himself smashed for 65 in four, the most expensive figures in T20 World Cup history. The USA will hope it is memories from two years rather than three days ago that inspire their star quick, especially in the potential absence of Ali Khan.
Faheem Ashraf took Pakistan over the line against Netherlands•Getty Images
Team news
Pakistan continue to wrestle with what to do about Babar, who once more struggled to have an impact during Pakistan’s nervy chase against the Netherlands, and got himself out at a crucial juncture. Their bowling combination appeared to go according to plan, so sweeping changes are not expected.
Pakistan: 1 Sahibzada Farhan 2 Saim Ayub 3 Salman Ali Agha (capt) 4 Babar Azam 5 Shadab Khan 6 Usman Khan/Khawaja Nafay (wk) 7 Mohammad Nawaz 8 Faheem Ashraf 9 Shaheen Afridi 10 Salman Mirza 11 Abrar Ahmed
The USA side suffered a couple of key injuries to their bowlers at the tail-end of India’s batting innings. Ali Khan pulled up trying to bowl the third over and is a serious doubt for the game with a leg injury. Shubham Ranjane, too, hobbled in the field and during his second over, but did come on to bat, and ended up joint-top scoring with 37 off 22. They have also lost Jasdeep Singh, and have brought in Ehsan Adil, the former Pakistan international, as the replacement.
United States of America: 1 Andries Gous (wk), 2 Saiteja Mukkamalla, 3 Monank Patel (capt), 4 Milind Kumar, 5 Sanjay Krishnamurthi, 6 Shubham Ranjane, 7 Harmeet Singh, 8 Mohammad Mohsin, 9 Shadley van Schalkwyk, 10 Ehsan Adil, 11 Saurabh Netravalkar
Pitch and conditions
Salman Ali Agha declared himself surprised by the amount of grass left on the surface at the SSC, which will now be less alien to Pakistan than it was three days ago. Pakistan have the flexibility to adapt if the surface plays slower, with the USA shorter on quality seam options in Ali Khan’s potential absence. Cloud cover is expected all of Tuesday, though rain is likely to give Colombo a wide berth.
Stats and trivia
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
