Pakistan will get their campaign underway in the T20 World Cup today at 9 PM IST facing hosts USA at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. USA have already played a game (first match of tournament) and they defeated Canada chasing down 195 runs in less than 18 overs.
Aaron Jones was the hero for them smashing an unbeaten 94 off 40 balls while Andries Gous also played his role scoring 65 runs. But their batting will be tested to the hilt by the Pakistan bowlers comprising Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseer Shah and Mohammad Amir in their line-up.
As far as the men in green are concerned, they didn't play a warm-up game in the lead up to the World Cup but were involved in a four-match T20I series against England in the UK which they lost 2-0. The series was like a warm-up for them as they sorted out a few team combinations as well.
Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas Pitch Report
Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas has been one of the best pitches on offer in this T20 World Cup. However, even at this venue, the only day game that took place witnessed Netherlands taking 18.4 overs against Nepal to chase down 107 runs. Left-arm spinner Tim Pringle took 3/20 in his four overs in that game while the other medium pacers shared seven wickets between them. Pakistan have a potent bowling attack and USA batters will be tested.
Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas T20I Numbers
Matches Played - 2
Matches won Batting first - 0
Matches won bowling first - 2
Average first innings score - 150
Higherst total recorded - 197/3 by USA vs Canada
Squads:
USA: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel(w/c), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Corey Anderson, Nitish Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jasdeep Singh, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar, Milind Kumar, Nosthush Kenjige, Nisarg Patel, Shayan Jahangir
Pakistan: Babar Azam(c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed
