With their fate hanging by a thread, Pakistan play buoyant Canada in a must-win game on a tricky pitch in New York.
Who: Pakistan vs Canada
What: ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Group A match
When: Tuesday, June 11, 10:30am local time (14:30 GMT)
Where: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live text and photo coverage begins at 11:30 GMT
It’s all-too-familiar territory for Pakistan in a World Cup, with their fate in the tournament hanging by a thread.
Babar Azam’s side have lost to USA and India, and must win against Canada – their opponents on Tuesday – to have any chance of making it to the next stage of the T20 World Cup.
A loss will make their final Group A game against Ireland a mere formality before they make their way back home. A win, by a big margin, will keep them in contention should they also beat Ireland on Sunday and hope other results in the group go their way.
The manner of Pakistan’s loss against India has left fans and experts seething with anger and frustration.
At the beginning of the 11th over, Pakistan were seemingly in control, as they required 63 runs off 59 balls with eight wickets in hand but went on to lose the game by six runs.
Former captain Wasim Akram called for a culling of some of the underperforming players and changes to the team.
“After this performance, Pakistan don’t deserve to go to the Super Eight,” he said after the match.
Pakistan’s assistant coach Azhar Mahmood said Pakistan’s batters were guilty of poor shot selection and decision-making during the chase, which led to their loss.
“It [poor performance] can come from nerves, or the fear of failure,” Mahmood said in his news conference ahead of the match against Canada, which he termed a “do-or-die match”.
“We have to win both our next matches.”
India and the USA both remain undefeated in Group A 🥳#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/bDJf7OkbNq
— ICC (@ICC) June 10, 2024
Meanwhile, their opponents are looking at the game as a chance to cause another major upset in the tournament.
Aaron Johnson, a top-order batter for Canada, said the unpredictable nature of the pitch in New York may work in his team’s favour.
“The fact that the wicket is playing some tricks, it levels the playing field for us, and we are looking to use that to our advantage,” he told reporters.
Canada go into the match with a win over Ireland in the bag and Johnson said the Maple Leafers are “fancying our chances” against an out-of-sorts Pakistani team.
“We are looking to bat positively and just back it up in the field.”
We go again in NY! 💪🏻🇨🇦#PAKvCAN #weCANcricket #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/hYKLcWujds
— Cricket Canada (@canadiancricket) June 10, 2024
The pitch in New York continues to invite discussions and criticism from fans and experts, but it has steadily improved since hosting its first match on June 2.
Teams are now able to post 100-plus totals but big shots and boundaries remain scarce.
Cloudy and humid weather is forecast in Long Island on Tuesday, which should allow a full game without any disruptions.
Pakistan and Canada’s only T20 meeting came in 2008 when the South Asian side won the match by 35 runs.
Both sides have not won many T20 matches in the recent past, but meet each other on the back of contrasting results.
Pakistan’s two losses in two games have put the spotlight on their misfiring batting, while Canada’s spirits will be lifted with their win over Ireland.
Pakistan: L L L L W
Canada: W L L L L
In a bid to keep their chances alive, Pakistan could try and bring in young opener Saim Ayub and drop one of their three spin-bowling all-rounders for another pace bowler in the form of Abbas Afridi.
Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Canada are likely to stick with the team that brought them their first-ever T20 World Cup win.
Squad: Navneet Dhaliwal, Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Shreyas Movva, Dilon Heyliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thaker, Jeremy Gordon, Saad bin Zafar (captain), Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh, Rayyan Khan Pathan.
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