(CMR) The United States men’s national cricket team delivered a stunning blow to Pakistan in Texas on Thursday during a surprisingly close T20 World Cup match.
The match in the group-stage round of the tournament was played in a former minor-league baseball park in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, one of three US venues where the tournament is being held.
Cricket fans around the world are calling the win one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Pakistan is ranked No. 6 in the world while the US team is No. 18.
On NPR, “All Things Considered” co-host Juana Summers likened it to “the Boston Red Sox losing to the Durham Bulls,” a Minor League Baseball team in North Carolina.
The United States is making its first appearance at the T20 World Cup and is co-hosting the tournament for the first time, along with the West Indies.
“Beating Pakistan and playing for the first time, the way we played today, I’m really proud of the boys,” said USA captain Monank Patel, who was named player of the match.
“Of course, beating Pakistan in a World Cup is going to open many doors for us,” he said.
According to NBC News, the win against Pakistan is all the more remarkable because the American players, who are on the team part time and have day jobs, were going up against a team that won the T20 World Cup in 2009 and came in second in 2007, the year the tournament began, and again in 2022.
Most of the US players are of South Asian or Caribbean descent, and some of them previously played in India or the West Indies.
The US, which won its opening game against Canada and is currently top of Group A with four points, has two more group-stage games remaining, against India and Ireland.
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