In the United States, cricket is largely an afterthought. The sport once had some cache here, but gradually gave way to baseball two centuries ago as America's bat-and-ball game of choice.
In Pakistan—as in other South Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan—cricket is something approaching a secular religion. This is, after all, a nation that elected a cricketer (legendary all-rounder Imran Khan) prime minister in 2018.
It was to the great shock of the sports world, then, that the United States defeated Pakistan in a super over Thursday at the men's T20 World Cup in Dallas (a super over is a tiebreaking mechanism not dissimilar from extra innings in baseball).
A STUNNER AT THE ICC MEN’S T20 CRICKET WORLD CUP!
The USA has upset international powerhouse Pakistan 😮 pic.twitter.com/eh0jUA7ojW
Captain and wicket-keeper Monank Patel was the United States's leading scorer with 50 runs. A disastrous showing from Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir allowed the United States to score 18 runs in the super over.
The United States is now 2-0 in the Twenty20 tournament—the men's World Cup for the shortest form of international cricket—after defeating Canada by seven wickets Saturday. Next up for the Americans is another international powerhouse Wednesday: India in New York.
PATRICK ANDRES
Patrick Andres has been a Staff Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated since 2022. Before SI, his work appeared in The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword, and Diamond Digest. Patrick has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.
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