Usman Tariq delivered an incredible first-time showing, claiming three wickets to guide Pakistan toward a comfortable 32-run win against the USA in their T20 World Cup 2026 encounter in Colombo. The 28-year-old bowler put up impressive numbers of 3/27, helping keep the USA down to 158/8 as they chased a challenging target of 191. Even with the growing tension, Shubham Ranjane kept up his excellent run, hammering a brave 51 from just 30 deliveries. Earlier in the game, Sahibzada Farhan’s explosive 73 from 41 balls had pushed Pakistan to a strong 190/9. Though Pakistan looked set to cross the 200-run mark, an amazing breakdown—dropping five wickets in merely 10 deliveries—prevented them from reaching that achievement. Shadley van Schalkwyk stood out as the top bowler for the USA, wrapping up with outstanding numbers of 4/25 and bringing his tournament total to seven dismissals.
TOSS
United States of America won the toss and decided to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
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
PAKISTAN
After being invited to bat first, Pakistan benefited from opener Sahibzada Farhan’s quick beginning to gain early momentum during the PowerPlay on what appeared to be a favorable batting surface. Saurabh Netravalkar faced difficulties once more while newcomer Ehsan Adil—playing against his birth nation—also couldn’t create early breakthroughs. Saim Ayub played much more cautiously than Farhan, though he did unleash a Caribbean-style pull shot behind square for a maximum off Netravalkar.
The first wicket came through Shadley van Schalkwyk, who maintained his form from the India match. The right-arm bowler had Ayub dismissed at short third man before getting Salman Ali Agha on the last delivery of the PowerPlay. This brought Babar Azam into the action, and while Farhan kept moving at a steady pace to reach his fifty in 27 balls, Babar found it tough to build momentum during his early batting phase. He struggled so much that even on a free hit, he could only manage a one-handed swing for a single run.
The 13th over itself changed the game in Pakistan’s favor, after USA had put pressure for some time and stopped them from scoring further. Babar changed his style and we are seeing him hitting the left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh for one six and only two fours. He surely kept hitting the poor deliveries to the boundary, but moreover, he was soon caught by Milind Kumar at long on while facing leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin. Milind surely took a difficult diving catch, but wicket-keeper Andries Gous dropped an easy chance in the same over. Moreover, this mistake gave Mohammad Nawaz another opportunity to continue batting.
Farhan actually got out in the next over when he tried to score quickly, and though many wickets fell in the final overs, Shadab Khan definitely played a brilliant knock of 30 runs in just 12 balls with three boundaries in a row off Adil to help Pakistan reach 190. Pakistan actually lost five wickets in the last two overs when they tried to score quickly. Van Schalkwyk definitely took 4/25, which was the same as his figures against India.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-
In his first tournament match, opener Shayan Jahangir gave USA a good start by hitting a six and four off Saim Ayub in the second over itself. This further helped the team build momentum early in the game. Basically, just when Gous was getting some speed, he hit the ball wrong off Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Agha caught the same ball in the air. Moreover, captain Monank Patel was finding it very hard to score runs as we are seeing the spin bowlers bowling very tight, and he only managed to make 3 runs from 10 balls before getting out.
Further, basically, USA scored only 18 runs in four overs after making 50/1 in the PowerPlay, and the same thing made their required run rate shoot up very high. Jahangir got out at long on position, missing his fifty by just one run, while Shadab Khan took his second wicket itself. This further reduced the batting team’s score in the evening match. Basically, Usman Tariq was playing his first match and he made things very difficult for the batters by bowling slow and using all his tricks to keep them quiet the same way. Moreover, basically, Shubham Ranjane hit some good shots but Milind Kumar struggled the same way, making only 11 runs from 15 balls because he couldn’t hit the ball properly.
Also, milind actually hit some boundaries and a six but then gave an easy catch to short third man, and Abrar Ahmed definitely bowled Sanjay Krishnamurthi out with a faster ball. Basically, Ranjane kept fighting even when they needed more than 20 runs per over, hitting the same bowler Shaheen Afridi for two sixes in a row to start the 18th over. Also, tariq surely achieved a hat-trick in the second-last over by keeping Ranjane away from batting. Moreover, this performance effectively ended USA’s chances in the match.
Also, we are seeing that only a fifty was left for Ranjane to complete, which he got with a big shot over extra cover in the last over, before Afridi bowled him out LBW with a yorker. Moreover, pakistan’s spinners bowled 16 out of 20 overs, and this strategy surely worked well as they won easily. Moreover, this victory helped them reach the top position in Group A.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan actually scored 190 runs and definitely beat USA by 32 runs. Sahibzada Farhan made 73 runs for Pakistan while USA could only make 158 runs.
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