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US fans taking in their famous win over Pakistan at Grand Prairie Cricket
Stadium. Photograph: Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC/Getty Images
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US fans taking in their famous win over Pakistan at Grand Prairie Cricket
Stadium. Photograph: Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC/Getty Images
T20 World Cup 2024



US UPSET HAS LIT FIRE UNDER THIS T20 WORLD CUP AND IT’S ABOUT TO GET EVEN HOTTER

Mark Ramprakash



England play Australia in Barbados while the pitch in New York will give India
and Pakistan something else to think about

Sat 8 Jun 2024 09.00 CEST
Share



The USA’s stunning victory over Pakistan on Thursday has given this World Cup an
upset for the ages – now it’s time for the game’s established giants to really
bring it to life. This weekend sees two of the sport’s great rivalries renewed
with England playing Australia on Saturday and Pakistan, now fighting to stay in
the tournament, facing India on Sunday.

If the matches we have seen so far are any indication, they will be completely
contrasting games, with England’s in Barbados, a familiar and often high-scoring
ground, and India’s in the new pop-up stadium near New York, where batting has
so far proved very difficult indeed. That is recognised now as the biggest game
in global cricket and I expect it to be another very exciting occasion – I just
hope we get a surface conducive to a good contest.


India thrive on imperfect pitch as Ireland find no fairytale in New York
Read more

In Twenty20 cricket we have come to expect to see batters on the front foot,
hitting through the line, scoring freely. These are early days, and the India v
Pakistan game will be played on a pitch that has never been used, but so far in
New York there has been a lot of uneven bounce and batters have struggled. Sri
Lanka were bowled out for 77 in the first game there, Ireland for 96 in the
second – by India, who dismantled their top order with their four quick-bowling
options.

With unpredictable bounce and high-class bowling batters will have to be savvy.
Those front-foot slogs we’ve come to accept as a regular part of T20 cricket may
be replaced by more traditional skills and shots off the back foot – cutting and
pulling – to give batters that little bit more reaction time. India and Pakistan
have bowlers who can make the most of these conditions, but Pakistan’s struggles
against the USA suggest the same is not true of their batters.

In Babar Azam and Virat Kohli both sides have players of absolute world class
who can come in and play a more traditional type of innings. Where India look to
have the edge is in power hitting, with Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Shivam
Dube all high-class options. Pakistan looked poor in their two recent games in
England and even worse against the USA, and need others to support Fakhar Zaman
with that style of play.

View image in fullscreen
Babar Azam’s more conventional methods may be needed but Pakistan are under
pressure after losing to the USA. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP

They have taken a risk on Azam Khan, who has an international T20 average of
only 8.80 but brings potentially useful – if not in this particular match –
experience from the Caribbean Premier League. Whether his game will be suited to
a quick New York pitch that requires lightning reactions is for Pakistan to
consider; the way Mark Wood dismissed him at the Oval last week, with a fast
bouncer into the body, suggests he may struggle. This is an occasion for sharp
skills and calm heads, a real one-off, and both sides will be considering the
type of cricketers they select for this game and whether those individuals can
be successful on this particular surface.

England and Australia should feel a bit more at home in Barbados, particularly
given that both teams played their opening games there. Thanks to the rain
England’s did not last long, and they looked nervy against a Scotland side who
as underdogs came out with absolutely nothing to lose.

Like many people, I’ve been waxing lyrical about England, and particularly the
variety of their attack, but for a while the Scottish openers put them to the
sword. What it proved is that anything can happen on any given day: if a guy
comes in and has a really good night he can take the game away from you, and
nearly all the teams at this World Cup have at least one player capable of doing
it.

Australia beat Oman comfortably enough but they will be hugely concerned about
the form of Glenn Maxwell, who got a first-ball duck in that game.

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In his past 10 T20 innings, going back to the start of the Indian Premier
League, he has five ducks and has scored more than four only twice. It is
dreadful form, and a World Cup is not the best time to feel your way out of it.
But Australia also have the headline act of the IPL in Travis Head opening the
batting with David Warner, that familiar, terrific bowling attack, an always
extraordinarily competitive mindset and the confidence that comes from winning
trophies.

There is always pressure in games between these two great rivals and
particularly at a World Cup, but both teams will expect to progress to the Super
Eights whatever the result and will be seeing Saturday’s match as a wonderful
opportunity, a chance to beat one of the tournament favourites, to put down a
marker, to demonstrate they’re here and they mean business.

Beyond that it allows them to get more experience of conditions in Barbados,
which will come in handy if either makes good on their ambitions and the most of
their ability, and they find themselves back for the final in a few weeks’ time.

Explore more on these topics
 * T20 World Cup 2024
 * USA cricket team
 * Twenty20
 * India cricket team
 * Pakistan cricket team
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