Pakistan vs USA T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Saim Ayub to undo the USA attack for back-to-back wins

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 2 hours ago

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Simon Lewis 2 hours ago

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Saim Ayub hit two sixes in his 37-ball 56 against Australia.
Shubham Ranjane has scored 28, 41 & 37 runs in his last three innings.
Can Pakistan stay top of the table with back-to-back wins?

Saim Ayub hits out against the Netherlands (Getty Images).

Pakistan vs USA Predictions

Pakistan beat the Netherlands in their opener but had to work hard for their win. The USA gave India a run for their money but lacked the batting depth to push for victory. It’s unlikely to be a walk in the park for Pakistan, but their powerhouse batting and bowling talent should prove too tough for the USA.

Pakistan vs USA Predictions
Head-to-Head
Pakistan Form
USA Form
Pakistan vs USA Team News & Squads

Pakistan’s Saim Ayub has scored 40, 23, 56 and 24 runs in his last four innings.
Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan hit two sixes in his 31-ball 47 against the Netherlands.
USA’s Shubham Ranjane hit three sixes in his 22-ball 37 against India.
USA’s Milind Kumar has scored 43 & 34 against New Zealand and India.

Head-to-Head

The two teams have met just once before, in the 2024 World Cup. The match ended in a tie, with the USA going on to win the Super Over.

Pakistan Form

After beating Australia 3-0 in their T20 series at the end of January, Pakistan won their opening match in the World Cup against the Netherlands by three wickets.

Saim Ayub got the innings off to a flyer, scoring 24 of the 27 runs for the opening stand with Sahibzada Farhan, who went on to score a quick 47 at the top of the order after scores of just 26 and 30 in his last four innings. Babar Azam struggled for his 15 runs after a stylish 50 off 36 balls against Australia.

Salman Mirza followed up figures of 2/46 and 3/18 in his previous four matches by taking 3/24 in the win over the Netherlands. He was well supported by Abrar Ahmed (2/23, econ 5.75) and Mohammad Nawaz (2/38). Nawaz had taken 5/18 in the previous match against Australia.

USA Form

The USA lost their opening game of the World Cup to India by 29 runs after dominating the first quarter of the match.

The USA had India reeling at 46/4 after Shadley van Schalkwyk (4/25, econ 6.25) knocked over three of India’s top five batters. Harmeet Singh (2/26, econ 6.50) helped reduce the defending champions to 118/7 in the 17th over, but a late burst saw India push their score up to 161/9. Ali Khan (1/13, econ 6.50) and Mohammad Mohsin (1/16, econ 4.00) also bowled superbly against the strong Indian batting line-up.

The USA found themselves in trouble at 13/3 in the fourth over before Milind Kumar (34 off 34), Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37 off 31) and Shubham Ranjane (37 off 22) kept their side in the hunt but they lacked the batting depth to take the game to the wire.

Pakistan vs USA Team News & Squads

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha was relieved to secure the win against a competitive Netherlands side. “We knew they'd come hard but we held things really well, so 147 we'd take on this pitch. Our spinners have done well in the last six months. In the first 10 overs we batted well, but then the two wickets fell and the pressure came in. The conditions make it not easy to start, but once a batter gets set they need to finish the game. We didn't do that today, so we want to change that,” said Agha.

The USA captain Monank Patel was proud of his players’ performance against India. “I thought our bowlers did a good job as the pitch was not easy to read, but we dropped catches and that cost us. At one stage I felt we could restrict them to 130, so I thought 160 was a good score to chase on that track. Our top three could not perform and fell to soft dismissals. The intent was a bit missing because we lost wickets initially. Lots of learnings and positives from this game. The way we handled the pressure, the crowd, we managed it really well. We made few mistakes but we will try to come back stronger,” said Patel.

Pakistan (possible XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed.

USA (possible XI): Monank Patel (c/wk), Saiteja Mukkamala, Andries Gous, Milind Kumar, Shayan Jahangir, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Harmeet Singh, Shubham Ranjane, Mohammad Mohsin, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan.

Verdict

Pakistan v USA

I am backing Pakistan to win. I am also backing Saim Ayub to top score for Pakistan.

Shubham Ranjane is a good bet to top score for the USA.

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