Team USA pulled off arguably the greatest upset in cricket history on Thursday.

“They defeated powerhouse Pakistan by five runs in the T20 World Cup, shocking the rest of the sport,” CBS Sports stated.

Per CBS Sports:

The match went to a super over, a tiebreaker in cricket, and Team USA recorded 18 runs. Pakistan needed 19 for the win but were held to just 13 runs. To make the upset even more special, it happened on United States soil in Dallas, Texas.

The T20 World Cup features the 20 best teams in the world, and Team USA now leads Group A following its massive upset of Pakistan. The rest of that group consists of India, Canada, and Ireland.

Team USA will try to keep its magic alive against another daunting opponent in India. That match will take place on June 12 as group play continues.

WATCH:

After Team USA’s shocking victory, Al Jazeera ranked the win as the biggest upset in the 17-year history of the T20 World Cup.

From Al Jazeera:

The co-hosts had never played Pakistan in any format of the game before Thursday’s match. Ranked 12 places below the 2009 champions, the USA went into the match riding on the wave of their win over Canada in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan entered the tournament on the back of a series loss against England.

Despite the contrasting forms, not many experts would have predicted a team of recently-turned-professional cricketers would turn the tables on one of cricket’s powerhouses.

USA’s squad comprises cricketers who played in India, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand until a few years ago. The country’s cricket infrastructure is not among the best, and the World Cup is being staged in the United States by the International Cricket Council itself.

None of that had a say on the calm and professional demeanour of the team USA players as they pulled off the shock in Dallas to launch the biggest cricket party in the USA.

Highlights below:

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.