"Pakistan never deserved to win" - Hurt Shoaib Akhtar reacts after USA pull off stunning victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup
Shoaib Akhtar expressed his disappointment at Pakistan's Super Over loss in the 2024 T20 World Cup match against the United States at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday, June 6. The Rawalpindi Express opined that Pakistan did not deserve to win the match and credited the US for their dominant performance.
Bowling first after winning the toss, co-hosts United States did a great job of restricting Pakistan to 159-7 as Nosthush Kenjige claimed 3-30 and Saurabh Netravalkar registered 2-18. In the chase, they finished on 159-3 as skipper Monank Patel hammered 50 off 38. Andries Gous (35 off 26) and Aaron Jones (36* off 26) also made crucial contributions to take the game into the Super Over.
Reacting to Pakistan's shocking defeat in their opening match of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Akhtar took to his official X handle and shared his thoughts on the unexpected result through a 33-second clip. He commented:
"Disappointing loss for Pakistan. We are not off to a good start, losing to USA. We repeated history, like we did against Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup. Unfortunately, Pakistan never deserved to win. The reason is that USA played very well and were in a commanding position.
"[Mohammad] Amir saved the match. He and Shaheen [Shah Afridi] tried. They [US] won 37 overs of the contest, if we look at the overall picture. Unfortunately, we couldn't pull it off," Akhtar added.
The 48-year-old shared the video on his social media handle with the caption:
"Hurt & disappointed."
While Pakistan suffered a shock loss, USA moved to the top of Group A in the points table, with two wins from as many matches. They had earlier beaten Canada by seven wickets in Dallas.
How Pakistan succumbed to a shocking defeat against USA in the 2024 T20 World Cup?
Sent into bat by the USA, Pakistan lost Mohammad Rizwan for 9 as he fell to a brilliant catch by Steven Taylor at slip off Saurabh Netravalkar's bowling. Usman Khan (3) and Fakhar Zaman (11) also fell cheaply.
Skipper Babar Azam recovered from a poor start to finish with 44 off 43 balls. Shadab Khan (40 off 25) and Shaheen Afridi (23* off 16) played crucial knocks to take Pakistan close to 160. In the chase, the United States lost Taylor for 12. However, skipper Monank guided the chase with a half-century, while Gous and Jones also played key knocks.
Nitish Kumar (14* off 14) smashed Haris Rauf for a four over mid-off to take the game in the Super Over. An erratic Amir conceded 18 runs in the Super Over. For the US, Netravalkar gave away only 14 to bowl his team to a historic win.