A look at five biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history

The United States of America produced one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history in Dallas on Thursday, when they outplayed Pakistan in a Group A match. The match went down to the wire, with both teams posting 159 after USA had asked the visitors to bat first.

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A Super Over followed, and in the Super Over, USA batted first and scored 18 runs. Saurabh Netravalkar bowled the over for USA, and even the Super Over went to the last ball, with the Men in Green needing seven runs from one ball, after Pakistan had lost Iftikhar Ahmed.

Saurabh gave away just one run off the last ball, and USA completed a famous win.

T20 World Cup 2024 |  USA shock Pakistan and put the ‘World’ in the Cup

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This is not the first upset of the T20 World Cup, and certainly won’t be the last, one would hope. We now take a look at top five upsets in T20 World Cup history:

2009: Netherlands beat England

The 2009 T20 World Cup was held in England, and the hosts were one of the favourites to clinch the trophy. However, England were in for a surprise against Netherlands in a group stage match. England were put into bat at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground, and Ravi Bopara (46) and Luke Wright (71) forged a century-run stand to help England post 162/5. Ryan ten Doeschate was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/35.

Despiyte a shaky start where thry lost two wickets in the powerplay, Netherlands rode on their valiant middle-order batters’ fightback. Tom de Grooth (49), Peter Borren (30) and ten Doeschate (22*) all contributed as the Dutch completed a four-wicket win in the last ball of the ball.

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2022: Namibia beat Sri Lanka

The 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia produced one of the biggest wins by an associate team. Namibia defeated Sri Lanka by 55 runs. The Lankans had won the toss in this preliminary Group A fixture in Geelong, and Jan Frylinck top-scored with 44 as Namibia posted 163/7.

In reply, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo and Jan Frylinck took two wickets each and JJ Smit picked one, as Sri Lanka were all out for 108. Namibia, however, missed out on a spot in the Super 12 stage, after finishing third.

2024: USA beat Pakistan

The latest upset of the T20 World Cup happened in Dallas on Thursday. After winning the toss, USA asked Pakistan to bat first. Pakistan were 21/3 at one stage but knocks from skipper Babar Azam (44) and Shadab Khan (40) led Pakistan to 159/7 from 20 overs.

In USA’s reply, skipper Monank Patel led from the front with a half-century, and Andries Gous (35) and Aaron Jones (36*) too played crucial roles in leading the hosts to 159/3.

A Super Over followed, and USA batted first, posting 18 on the board. Saurabh Netravalkar, an Indian-origin player like Monank and a few others in the squad, delivered when it mattered, removing Iftikhar Ahmed in the third ball. Seven runs were needed for the Men I Green off the last ball, and Saurabh delivered a wide yorker to Shadab, who collected just a single.

2016: Afghanistan beat West Indies

West Indies were one of the favourites to lift the T20 World Cup in 2016, and while they did lift the trophy that year, one of their defeats came to Afghanistan in a Super 10 match in Nagpur.

Afghanistan were restricted to 123/7 after Samuel Badree picked three wickets, but a clinical bowling effort from the Afghans, where Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi picked two wickets each, restricted the Windies to 117/8, with Dwayne Bravo top-scoring with 28.

2014: Nepal beat Afghanistan

Two years prior to their surprise win over West Indies, Afghanistan were at the receiving end of things when they lost to Nepal. Nepal were making their T20 World Cup debut and had already got the better of Hong Kong. Nepal were asked to bat first, and opener Subash Khakurel scored a gritty half-century to lead them to 141/5.

In reply, Afghanistan suffered a top-order collapse and only managed 24 runs in the powerplay. Shafiqullah (36) and Asgar Afghan (49) led some sort of fightback but were restricted to 132/8 after Jitendra Mukhiya picked three wickets.