Opener Sahibzada Farhan hit a solid half-century while spinner Usman Tariq grabbed three wickets as Pakistan downed the United States by 32 runs in a T20 World Cup Group A game in Colombo on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old hit five sixes and six fours in his 41-ball 73 and was aided by a brilliant 32-ball 46 by Babar Azam (four fours, one six) to guide Pakistan to 190-9 at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.
Their spinners then checked the inexperienced USA batting with Tariq taking 3-27 and Shadab Khan 2-26 to restrict their opponents to 158-8 in 20 overs.
The win avenged Pakistan’s shock defeat at the hands of USA in the T20 World Cup two years ago and handed them a second win in as many games following their close three-wicket win over the Netherlands on Saturday.
For the USA, Shubham Ranjane top scored with a valiant 30-ball 51 including three sixes and as many fours before he fell to pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was playing his 100th T20 international.
Opener Shayan Jahangir muscled his way to an attractive 34-ball 49 studded with two sixes and five fours while Milind Kumar scored 29 before United States were derailed from 123-3.
“It was a clinical performance as we batted really well to post 190 and we knew we could defend that,” said Pakistan captain Salman Agha.
“There is always room for improvement, we’d like to bowl better in the powerplay before the next game.”
Pakistan’s next game is against arch-rivals India in Colombo on Sunday, a game only cleared by Pakistan government on Monday after initially announcing a boycott of it.
“We were in the game in the powerplay but again in the middle overs we couldn’t show intent and lost wickets,” said USA captain Monank Patel.
Earlier, Farhan and fellow opener Saim Ayub, who scored a 17-ball 19 with two sixes, put on 54 in five overs.
Pakistan then lost two wickets in the sixth over of their innings, bowled by Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Ayub was caught off a slower one while Agha holed out on the deep square-leg boundary for one.
Farhan and Azam took control with an 81-run third-wicket stand as Pakistan cut loose in the middle overs.
Farhan passed 1,000 T20 international runs in his 41st match before he was caught in the covers off spinner Harmeet Singh in the 16th over.
Shadab Khan launched an assault to score 30 off 12 balls before Pakistan lost five wickets for just 13 runs in the last two overs.
Schalkwyk was the best USA bowler with 4-25, following his four-wicket haul against India in the 29-run defeat on Saturday.
USA win toss opt to field
The United States of America (USA) elected to bowl first after winning the toss against Pakistan in the 12th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo.
“Looks like a good batting track and consistent breeze,” US captain Monank Patel said, “once we know the target it will be easier to chase down.”
Pakistan and the USA have faced each other only once in T20 cricket.
In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, the two sides clashed in a thrilling Group A match at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas, on June 6.
Pakistan posted 159/7 in 20 overs, with Babar Azam scoring 44 and Shadab Khan contributing 40. USA replied with 159/3, anchored by a solid partnership including Monank Patel’s half-century.
The match was tied, forcing a Super Over, where the USA scored 18/1. Pakistan could only manage 13/1, handing the co-hosts a historic Super Over victory — one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
“We had a great game last time,” Monank says, in reference to their win in Dallas, “we want to get confidence and motivation from that game and do well in this one.”
US confirmed two changes with Ehsan Adil and Shayan Jahangir coming in for Ali Khan and Saiteja Mukkamalla.
Salman Agha confirmed a single change for them, Usman Tariq replacing Salman Mirza. ”
We have been playing really good cricket for the last few months now, we just want to continue,” he said.
Squads:
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed
United States of America: Andries Gous (wk), Shayan Jahangir, Monank Patel (capt), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ehsan Adil, Saurabh Netravalkar
