Pakistan Beat USA By 32 Runs To Go Top Of Group A In T20 World Cup 2026

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup action continued in Colombo as Pakistan registered their second successive win, defeating the USA by 32 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday. The victory keeps Pakistan unbeaten in the tournament and firmly placed at the top of Group A with four points from two matches.

After being put into bat, Pakistan made a confident start. The opening pair of Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan accelerated early, bringing up the team’s fifty inside five overs. However, Shadley van Schalkwyk struck twice to pull things back for the USA. He first had Ayub mistime a shot to Saurabh Netravalkar and then dismissed captain Salman Agha five balls later, leaving Pakistan at 56/2 at the end of the powerplay.

Farhan then played a key role in rebuilding the innings. He stitched together an important 81-run stand with Babar Azam, combining smart strike rotation with attacking strokes. Azam contributed a well-paced 46 before departing, but Farhan continued to dominate. The right-hander brought up his maiden T20 World Cup half-century and went on to score a brilliant 73 off 41 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes.

Farhan’s innings ended when Sanjay Krishnamurthi took a sharp catch off Harmeet Singh. Soon after, Shadab Khan provided late momentum with a quickfire 30 off just 12 balls, ensuring the scoring rate did not dip. Pakistan, however, lost five wickets in the space of 10 balls while attempting to accelerate in the final overs and finished at 190/9 in their 20 overs.

Van Schalkwyk was the standout bowler for the USA, claiming 4/25. In his second spell, he once again picked up two wickets in an over to restrict Pakistan from crossing the 200-run mark.

Chasing 191, the USA began positively. Their openers added 42 runs in the powerplay and looked comfortable at the crease. Mohammad Nawaz provided the breakthrough in his first over to break the opening stand and shift momentum back towards Pakistan.

Shadab then made a crucial impact with the ball. He first took a return catch to dismiss USA skipper Monank Patel and followed it up with the wicket of Shayan Jahangir, who was playing fluently and scored 49. The double strike put Pakistan in control during the middle overs.

Despite the setbacks, Shubham Ranjane and Milind Kumar kept the USA in the contest with a valuable 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Just as they looked ready to increase the tempo, Usman Tariq turned the game decisively in Pakistan’s favour. He picked up a key wicket and then struck twice in two deliveries, tightening Pakistan’s grip on the match.

Ranjane showed resilience and completed a fighting half-century, scoring 51, but the required run rate kept climbing. Pakistan’s bowlers ensured there was no late comeback, restricting the USA to 158/8 in their 20 overs and sealing a comprehensive 32-run win.

Usman Tariq finished with impressive figures of 3/27, while Shadab Khan’s all-round performance, including two wickets for 26 runs, proved vital in Pakistan’s second straight victory of the tournament.

Brief scores: Pakistan 190/9 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 73, Babar Azam 46; Shadley van Schalkwyk 4/25) beat USA 158/8 in 20 overs (Shubham Ranjane 51, Shayan Jahangir 49; Usman Tariq 3/27) by 32 runs.