The USA have pegged Pakistan back! Not a single boundary has come in the last three overs, on top of those two vital scalps. Babar Azam has joined Sahibzada Farhan in the middle; Pakistan desperately need a steadying partnership from their two most experienced heads. Top over from Harmeet!
PAK: 66/2 (8)

Two in the over for van Schalkwyk! He just can't stop taking wickets at the moment. Salman Ali Agha has holed out, heaving this straight to deep backward square. Pakistan are suddenly under the pump! Powerplay is done!

Salman Agha c Shayan Jahangir b van Schalkwyk 1 (3)

PAK: 56/2 (5.6)

Sliced to short third! Saim steps across his stumps lining up the leg side, but van Schalkwyk follows him with a half-tracker outside off. Only manages an edge and Netravalkar takes a regulation catch. Big wicket! 
Saim Ayub c Netravalkar b van Schalkwyk 19 (17)
PAK: 54/1 (5.1)

6, 4, 6 - there is no stopping Farhan at the moment! Another expensive over from the USA and Pakistan are on the charge. Farhan moves to 34 and looks dangerous. The USA need a wicket from somewhere; the final over of the Powerplay is coming up!
PAK: 54/0 (5)

Mistimed, but it lands safely! Monank Patel makes the chase, but it just about clears the ring. The USA captain was caught in two minds about whether to backtrack; a big let-off for Saim Ayub!

PAK: 38/0 (3.4)

Absolutely smoked! Another big over for Pakistan. Fired into the slot and Farhan clubs it over deep mid-wicket for a towering six. That's the second maximum of the over and Pakistan are on the charge.

PAK: 32/0 (2.6)

Sahibzada Farhan on the charge! He finds the gap again, for the third time in the over. This one is punched through wide mid-off for four more. 13 off the over. Not the ideal start for Ehsan Adil, who represented Pakistan at the 2015 ODI World Cup

PAK: 19/0 (1.6)

Swung over mid-wicket for a four! Back-of-a-length from Ehsan, just enough for Farhan to free his arms. He hauls it into the leg side off the inside half of the bat. Good shot!
PAK: 11/0 (1.3)

Couple of misses for Saim Ayub and although he did slam a beautiful six straight down the ground, he almost ended up gifting his wicket. A delivery from Netravalkar nipped back sharply and crashed into his stumps and although the ball tracker showed that it did hit a part of the leg stump, the batter survived thanks to the not out decision by the on-field umpire.

Pakistan 6/0 (1 over)

Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub to open the batting for Pakistan while Saurabh Netravalkar will bowl the first over for USA.

The national anthems are over and it is time for the Pakistan vs USA encounter. USA lost their first game in the T20 World Cup 2026 against India but if they can repeat their heroics against Pakistan, their campaign will be right back on track.

This is the third game to be played at this venue, and it will be a fresh pitch. What we’ve seen here at the SSC is extra bounce, which has surprised everyone. When we compare across all venues, this has had the most bounce, which is unusual. Usually, red-soil pitches like Mumbai give you the most bounce. I think, will be back to usual SSC conditions. They won’t need to worry about what happened in the previous game, with batters getting out to shorter balls or the extra bounce. They reached out and tried to take the ball on the front foot, thinking it would bounce around waist height, but they committed far too much. Pull back a little, pick the length. Same amount of grass - three millimetres on offer. Nicely rolled in, and hence it looks a lot better. It’s back to usual batting conditions. You’ll hit through the line, more runs on offer. Batting first or batting second really doesn’t matter. It comes down to what you do out here. I’d say 175 if you bat first - it comes on nicely for the batsman.

One change for Pakistan - Usman Tariq replaces Salman Mirza. "We’ve got one change. Usman Tariq is playing. Salman Mirza is unfortunately missing out. We wanted to give Usman a game. I think he’s a match-winner and a trump card for us, so we want to use him," Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha said at the toss.

USA captain Monank Patel wins the toss and opts to bowl against Pakistan at the SSC in Colombo. Usman Tariq included as Salman Mirza misses out. Tactical change from Pakistan. Two changes for USA and Jahangir and Ehsan Adil get the nod. No Ali Khan for the US

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

United States of America (Playing XI): Andries Gous(w), Shayan Jahangir, Monank Patel(c), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ehsan Adil, Saurabh Netravalkar

We are moments away from the toss at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Cloud cover is expected throughout the contest, making the toss even more decisive. This will be the first-ever game under the lights at this venue.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan,  Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Mohammad Nawa, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza and Abrar Ahmed

USA: Andries Gous (wk), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Monank Patel (capt), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ehsan Adil, Saurabh Netravalkar

Doubts remain over the fitness of their pacer Ali Khan who limped off the field against India. He pulled up trying to bowl the third over and is a serious doubt for the game with a leg injury. Shubham Ranjane's participation in the match also remains uncertain, while Jasdeep Singh has been ruled out of the tournament. USA have brought in Ehsan Adil as his replacement.

Following their narrow win over the Netherlands, calls have been made to drop star batter Babar Azam from the playing XI for their important clash against the USA. Babar made a scratchy 15 off 18 in his side's first-up three-wicket win over the Netherlands. Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali suggested that Babar is not fit enough to play T20Is.

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the T20 World Cup clash between Pakistan and USA. After enduring contrasting starts to their campaigns, both desperate to stabilize their inconsistent batting units.