United States captain Monank Patel said his side’s historic T20 World Cup super-over win against Pakistan will help boost the sport’s popularity in the country.
The tournament co-hosts sealed a famous upset at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas by holding their nerve to win the super over after a thrilling match was tied.
Pakistan had been restricted to 159 for seven in their regulation innings, but hit back after the United States appeared to be cruising in reply at 111 for two in the 14th over only to finish on 159 for three.
Patel said: “Of course, beating Pakistan in a World Cup is going to open many doors for us.
“And people, like the USA cricket community, (will) be aware of it. Obviously hosting the World Cup in the USA and performing here as a team, it helps us to grow cricket in the USA.
“I am happy with the win, playing against Pakistan for the first time in the World Cup and beating them. It was an unbelievable performance from our side.”
The United States, appearing in their first T20 World Cup, beat Bangladesh 2-1 in their warm-up series last month and defeated Canada by seven wickets in their opening tournament match.
When asked if his side’s eye-catching series win over Bangladesh should no longer be considered a fluke, Patel said: “We are not worried about what people are saying.
“We know what we have worked (on) and what capability we have. And we just focus on the particular game.”
In a bid to temper expectation, Patel said his side will not start thinking about the Super 8 and would not look beyond their next match, against India in New York next Wednesday.
He added: “Before the tournament I said earlier also that we want to focus on one game at a time.
“And our focus will be on playing against India now. We don’t even want to think about the Ireland (game) right now. So Super 8 is far ahead. We want to just focus on one game at a time.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted he was “not feeling good” after the match and that his side had paid the price for underestimating the opposition.
He said: “Whenever you come into any tournament, you do the best preparation always. You can say it’s a kind of mindset.
“When you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. You take things a little lightly.
“If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you.
“So, I believe that we are not up to the mark in executing. We are doing well in preparation, but in the match, we are not executing our plans as a team.”
