Pakistan vs USA, Match 12 Match Summary

The grind continues - The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2026 wheels on and keeps hopping cities. Already, we’ve seen some absolute bangers, and the hits keep coming. Match 12 is up next, and it’s a spicy one. Pakistan versus USA at Colombo’s Sinhalese Cricket Stadium. Group A is about to get real interesting. No more underdogs - Well and truly. The dare to dream and fight, they say. The gap between cricket’s giants and the so-called minnows? It’s shrinking fast. Netherlands, Scotland, USA, Nepal… these associate nations aren’t just showing up anymore, they’re showing OUT. Over the past couple of days, they’ve been dragging the big boys into deep water and making them sweat. Sure, the results haven’t always gone their way, but the fight? The improvement? It’s undeniable and absolutely electric to watch. Remember June 6th, 2024? If you don’t, Pakistan definitely does. That was the day USA walked into Dallas and absolutely stunned the cricket world. T20 World Cup. Pakistan batted first, managed 159. USA matched it exactly, forcing a Super Over. USA made 18. Pakistan? Just 13. USA won. Drop the mic. That was the moment USA put the entire cricket world on notice. Living the dream - That Dallas upset lit a fire that’s still burning. In their tournament opener against India, USA pushed the giants to the absolute brink with some seriously disciplined bowling. Shadley van Schalkwyk was the star with four wickets, while the rest of the attack backed him up beautifully. Saurabh Netravalkar will want to forget his rough day though. His 65 runs conceded was the most expensive spell in T20 World Cup history. Ouch. But hey, even legends have off days. Time to cash In - USA’s batting has the ingredients, they just need to bake the cake. The top order hasn’t quite fired yet, and in tournaments like these, inconsistency will absolutely wreck you. The middle order trio of Milind, Shubham, and Sanjay have looked solid, but they need to finish what they start. No more leaving it halfway and hoping for the best. Pakistan’s heart attack cricket - Pakistan and drama… name a more iconic duo. They’ve somehow made a career out of making things harder than they need to be, especially when the lights are brightest. Sure, they usually pull through, but man, do they love living on the edge. Against Netherlands, the chase nearly went sideways before Faheem Ashraf smashed his way to glory with an absolute ripper of a cameo. Sahibzada Farhan’s carried his 2025 form into this tournament nicely, and the top order looked decent in game one. Stuck in the second gear - Pakistan’s got a problem, and it’s been haunting them forever. The middle order just can’t keep up with the pace of modern T20 cricket. Babar Azam’s sliding down to number four, which is uncharted waters for him. The numbers don’t lie though. His T20 World Cup strike rate of 110.37? That’s just too slow for today’s game. If Pakistan wants to avoid more nail-biters, they need their middle order to step on the gas and start scoring faster. Team form (Last 5 T20Is, recent result first) Pakistan - WWWWL | USA - LLLWW. What to expect? The conditions in Colombo are characteristically slowish in nature, so spin is expected to play a huge role once again. In the previous game played here, out of 17, 9 wickets were picked up by the tweakers. An unpredictable Pakistan will look to exorcise ghosts of the past when they meet a determined USA, 20 months after being handed an infamous defeat by the same opponent in completely different conditions. Should be a cracker.