ISLAMABAD: A half-century by Muhammad Rizwan and two vital wickets from Mohammad Amir helped Pakistan beat Canada by seven wickets on Tuesday in New York, helping the green shirts register their first victory of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The victory came days after Pakistan lost to arch-rivals India on Sunday, compounding their cricket T20 World Cup misery. The loss meant Pakistan needed to win Tuesday’s clash and their next one against Ireland too.
The green shirts won the toss and elected to bowl first. Canada fared poorly with the bat, managing to score only 106/7 at the end of their 20 overs. Canadian opener Aaron Johnson top-scored with 52 from 44 balls, hitting four sixes and an equal number of fours.
Pakistani pacers Amir and Haris Rauf returned figures of 2/13 and 2/26 respectively. Fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah finished with figures of 1/21 and 1/24 while all-rounder Imad Wasim ran out Nicholas Kirton.
“As a bowler you have to adopt the conditions, what the conditions are demanding,” Amir, who was awarded the Player of the Match award, said at the end of the match.
“My role is very clear, what I’m going to do with the new ball and at the death. That’s why I’m getting that success.”
The fast bowler said this was “a very important win” for Pakistan.
Left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub’s poor performance with the bat continued against Canada. The batter scored 6 runs from 12 balls at a strike rate of 50 before he was dismissed by Dilon Heyliger, who returned figures of 2/18.
Rizwan remained unbeaten with a run-a-ball 52 while skipper Babar Azam pitched in with a valuable 33 runs from 33 balls.
Fakhar Zaman was dismissed after he scored only four runs from six balls while Usman Khan remained unbeaten on two runs.
Pakistan will next meet Ireland in a must-win clash on June 16 in Florida. To stay alive in the tournament, the green shirts need the United States to lose their remaining two matches against India and Ireland.
If the US wins even one more point, Pakistan’s journey in the World Cup will come to an abrupt end in the first stage. Even one match affected by rain would spell the end for Pakistan, as the US require only one point to move to the second round.
