Pakistan's campaign in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup got off to a horrendous start as they lost their first game of the tournament to the USA in a thrilling Super Over at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Pakistan looked average in both the batting and bowling departments and their skipper Babar Azam blamed their atrocious display both with the bat and ball in hand during the powerplay as the reason behind the loss to the co-hosts.
He also admitted that they failed to "assess the conditions" properly and it also came back to hurt them.
"First six overs while batting, we couldn't capitalise. We took momentum but back-to-back wickets hurt us," said Babar during the post-match presentation.
"(Bowling) We were not up to the mark in the first six. Didn't take wickets, spinners didn't either. We came back in the end but couldn't finish well. Hope to do well in the future. (Result makes it) Very hard, all credit to USA who did well in all three departments. That's why they won. There was moisture in the pitch. It was two-paced. As professionals, we had to assess conditions better," he added.
Babar himself had a game to forget as a batter and captain. The right-hander struggled to find the gaps and rotate the strike early on which put extreme pressure on his fellow batters and they succumbed while trying to up the ante.
At one stage the Pakistan captain was batting at a strike rate of less than 50.00 and it was the arrival of Shadab Khan in the middle that brought him some relief.
Shadab played some attacking shots and transferred the pressure back on the USA bowlers. It allowed Babar to find his touch and he eventually got out at a score of 44 off 43 deliveries.
