Two of the former T20I world champions in Teams Pakistan and Sri Lanka failed to cut for the Super 8 stage in the ongoing edition. Though disappointing, these results indicate the unpredictability of this shortest format of cricket. While Pakistan was the champion in 2009 and Sri Lanka in 2014, the deterioration of team performance over 10 and 15 years respectively deserves analysis to learn lessons for other teams and avoid such humiliation.
Among the two the first disappointment was that Pakistan suffered losses to the USA and India in the first two matches. Due to the washout of the USA and Ireland match both got one point each, leading to the extinction of the Pakistan team was knocked out of the tournament.
Sri Lanka suffered 6 wickets loss to South Africa. Their second match against Nepal was washed out and in the third match, they lost by 2 wickets against Bangladesh. Their only consolation win came in the last league encounter against the Netherlands.
Here we look at the journey of Team Pakistan and Team Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2024:
Pakistan
1. Pakistan vs USA
Favourites and 2009 World Champions, Pakistan began their campaign against debutants USA in Dallas, Texas. After being asked to bat first by Monak Patel, they had a shaky start losing wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, and Fakhar Zaman cheaply. Then Shahbad Khan and Babar Azam’s partnership ensured Pakistan’s recovery and then Shaheen Shah Afridi’s cameo helped them to post 159 for 6.
The USA team needed 15 runs in the final over. Haris Rauf’s inability to defend in the final over led the match into the Super Over.
In the super over Mohammad Aamir of Pakistan gave away 18 runs that shifted momentum in favour of the hosts. Ifkhithkar Ahmed was caught out soon, Shadab Khan and Fakhar Zaman, could not take Pakistan across the line as they made just 13 for 1.
2. Pakistan vs India
The most- awaited match between Pakistan and India took place in New York. Pakistan captain Babar Azam asked India to bat first after winning the toss. They dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma cheaply. However, Pant and Axar Patel recovered from the situation a bit. Pakistan pace bowlers made a strong comeback after Pant and Axar Patel’s partnership to bundle out India for 119 in 19 overs. Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took 3 wickets each.
In reply, Pakistan was going comfortably until 80 for 3, as Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan added 31 runs for the second wicket. After that, the rest of the batting crumbled under immense pressure to lose the match by six runs.
3. Pakistan vs Canada
Pakistan in their third match of the tournament, chasing 107 runs, went past Canada in a low-scoring encounter in New York. Their pace bowling was impressive as they restricted Canada to just 106 for 7 in 20 overs. Mohammad Aamir and Haris Rauf took 2 wickets each. Needing to win in 14 overs, to surpass the USA’s run rate, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam could not increase the tempo, and eventually, they won the match in 17.3 overs. Rizwan remained unbeaten on 53.
4. Pakistan vs Ireland
Pakistan’s last match against Ireland saw a low-scoring thriller in Florida. After winning the toss, Babar Azam asked them to bat first, Ireland posted a target of 106 after being in a precarious position of 32 for 6.
In reply, Pakistan’s batting also crumbled to 62 for 6. Abbas Afridi and Babar Azam stitched 33 runs partnership which paved the way for the victory. Shaheen Shah Afridi hit the winning sixer of the match getting a three-wicket victory with 7 balls to spare.
Journey of Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2009
Pakistan was clubbed with England and the Netherlands in Group B. In their first Group match against England, they suffered 48 run loss. They made a strong comeback to register a thumping 82 victory to qualify for the Super 8’s.
Pakistan had a shaky start in Super 8’s with a 19-run loss to Sri Lanka. Needing to stay alive in the tournament, they defeated New Zealand by six wickets. In their final Super 8 match, Pakistan thrashed Ireland by 39 runs to qualify for the semi-finals.
On 18 June 2009, Pakistan won the first finals against South Africa by six runs to qualify for the finals. The final encounter saw Shahid Afridi and company win their only T20 title registering an emphatic 8-wicket win in Lords.
Sri Lanka
1. Sri Lanka vs South Africa:
In the ongoing edition, Sri Lanka lost their first match against South Africa in New York. After being asked to bat, their batting crumbled for 77 on a tough batting pitch. Despite superb bowling efforts by Lankan bowlers, they could not defend a modest target losing the match by 6 wickets.
2. Sri Lanka vs Nepal
Their match against Nepal at Lauderhill, Florida was abandoned without a single ball being bowled.
3. Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
After being asked to bat first, Pathum Nissanka made 47 which laid a strong foundation, but after that, a flurry of wickets led Sri Lanka to post a target of just 124 for 9 in 20 overs. Nuwan Thusara was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka taking 4 wickets for 18. Bangladesh scored steadily helped by Litton Das to post a victory by 2 wickets. Thus, Sri Lanka’s journey of reaching the Super 8 stage ended in Dallas, Texas.
4. Sri Lanka vs Netherlands
Sri Lanka ended the T20 World Cup with a massive win over the Netherlands. After being asked to bat first, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanaka, and Mathew’s contributions helped Sri Lanka post a target of 201 for 6 in 20 overs. Sri Lanka’s bowling rose to the occasion as they bundled the Netherlands out for 118 to win the match by 83 runs.
Journey of Sri Lanka in the 2014 T20 World Cup
The 2014 T20 World Cup was held in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka was clubbed with South Africa, New Zealand, England, and the Netherlands in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage.
In their first match against South Africa, Sri Lanka won a closely-fought match by 5 runs. In the next match, they dominated by bundling out the Netherlands for just 39 runs and chased the target in just 5 overs.
In their next Super 8 match the Sri Lankan Cricket Team suffered a wicket loss to England as their bowling didn’t live up to expectations. Their last Super 10 match saw them register 59-run wins over New Zealand after posting just 119 batting first due to an extraordinary bowling feat.
On 3 April 2014, Sri Lanka won the first semi-finals by 27 runs via DLS method against West Indies as the rains had interrupted the match.
In the finals facing India, they chased a modest target and won by 6 wickets. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene got a great farewell for the first T20 title.
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