USA entered the match having beaten Canada in their tournament opener after a historic series win against Bangladesh. After sending Pakistan to bat first, Saurabh Netravalkar provided the first breakthrough for the hosts, the credit for which must equally go to Steven Taylor, who took a brilliant one-handed stunner to set the tone for his side.

Usman Khan fell cheaply, followed by the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman (11 off 7) to leave Pakistan teetering at 26-3 in 4.4 overs. Shadab Khan walked in next to lead up a fightback with a 25-ball 40 and put on a 50-ball 72-run partnership with Babar Azam, who was struggling to score for the first part of the innings.

With Shadab out in the 13th over, Pakistan went from 98-3 to 98-5 as Azam Khan returned without troubling the scorers. Babar fell for a 43-ball 44 in the 16th over. During his scratchy knock, he overtook Kohli as the leading run-scorer in T20Is. Netravalkar, the pick of the bowlers for USA, picked up Iftikhar Ahmed (18 off 14) in the 19th over and finished with 2-18. Pakistan ended on 159-7.

Captain Monank leads the way

Monank Patel was the driving force behind the USA's run-chase as he scored a 38-ball 50, including a six down the ground against Shaheen Afridi to reach the landmark. At the end of 13 overs, the hosts were 104-1, needing only 56 runs in seven overs. Things took an interesting turn following Monank's dismissal soon after reaching his fifty. Naseem Shah, Shaheen and Mohammad Amir shone in the death overs to bring back Pakistan in the end.

With 15 needed off the 20th over, Haris Rauf landed his yorkers to bring down the equation to 12 off 3.

Aaron Jones (36 not out off 26), the star of the show in USA’s previous match, parked a low full toss out for a six and then with five needed off the last ball, Nitish Kumar hit a four over long-off to tie the match.

Netravalkar steals the show for USA in the super over

Amir, who impressed earlier with 1-25 from four overs was entrusted to bowl the super over. He conceded a four of the first ball. While this was the only boundary, USA still managed 18 runs, which included seven runs in wides.

Netravalkar was tasked to defend the runs. He didn’t disappoint and held his composure to concede just 13 runs and win the game for his side by five runs.

The victory earned high praise from the cricket community as the USA have a realistic chance of advancing to the second round with two wins in two games.

Watch the PAK vs USA match highlights here:

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