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Hosts United States pushed Pakistan on the back foot early on in the innings as Steven Taylor pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss opener Mohammad Rizwan. Mumbai-born USA pacer pacer Saurabh Netravalkar managed to square up Rizwan with movement. The ball went to the slip fielder Taylor who put in a dive and took a one-handed stunner to strike early.
Rizwan who hit a six in the first over of the innings departed after scoring just nine runs from eight balls. Rizwan's wicket was followed by a mini collapse in the powerplay overs. In Nosthush Kenjige's second over, Usman Khan went for the big shot but was caught at long-off by Nitish Kumar. Fakhar Zaman walked out to bat and opened his account with a first-ball six. In the third over, Ali Khan was introduced into the attack.
Taylor took another catch as Zaman went for the lap shot but got caught at short fine leg position. Zaman scored 11 runs from seven balls. Pakistan lost three wickets for just 26 runs in the fifth over.
Patel predicted a collapse?
Earlier, USA captain Monank Patel had issued a warming for Pakistan in the pre-match press conference saying that a good 30-40 minutes on the field may result in USA dominating.
"I mean, we won't focus much on the Pakistan side. We want to focus on our cricket. And we want to make sure that we continue playing the way we've been playing. And you know, it's T20. Once we have a good 30-40 minutes on the field, you never know. We can take the game away,” he said.
Patel said that they will look to carry the momentum into the Pakistan game. In the T20 World Cup 2024 opener, they beat Canada in a record-breaking run chase.
"The first game definitely helped us. We got good momentum. We will make sure that we carry forward that momentum in the next game. Pakistan is a good side, is a well-experienced side and we will make sure that we play the cricket we have been playing,” Patel added.
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