No room for slip-ups for Pakistan against Canada

Less than 48 hours after their insipid batting performance against IndiaPakistan will be gearing up for their next encounter at the same venue where they slow-burned their way to a defeat in the most-watched cricketing spectacle. Up against Canada, it should be their easiest challenge in the competition, but in the two games so far at this World Cup, they have shown the ability to let the opposition take over in the most unlikeliest of situations.

Unfortunately, for now, there is no room for any more slip-ups for the former champions. Even a victory, at best, merely guarantees them only the possibility of staying afloat in the tournament. Their pacers have turned up well, but in every other department they have been found wanting. Form has deserted them for long, and with each passing defeat over the last few months, it won’t be surprising if even their confidence has taken a hit.

Most worrying of their concerns would be their inability to dominate the pressure situations in the game. And it won’t help that Canada would be coming up a far more confident unit, having secured their first-ever T20 World Cup win after defeating Ireland. Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva have been the standout performers with the bat, but they would need a more all-round performance to go a level up and keep even their hopes alive in the competition.

When: Tuesday, June 11, 10:30 AM (Local Time), 8:00 PM (IST)

Where: Pakistan vs Canada, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York

What to expect: Run scoring has been extremely difficult at the Nassau County ground, and it’s expected to be another low-scoring encounter. It is expected to be slightly cloudly as well, but no rain is predicted.

Head to head: Pakistan 1 – 0 Canada

Team Watch:

Pakistan: Babar Azam’s side may stick to a similar combination, but could be tempted to bring in Azam Khan or Saim Ayub in place of Usman Khan

Tactics & Matchups: Aaron Johnson has been explosive in the Powerplay, especially against the left-arm pacers. Naseem Shah could hold the key as Pakistan will look to get him out early. In what is expected to be a low-scoring encounter, the duration of Johnson’s stay in the middle could prove decisive.

Probable

Canada: At the back of their historic win, the team from North America might prefer to go unchanged.

Tactics & Matchups: Even as the conditions have aided pacers, the likes of Babar Azam, Azam Khan, Saim Ayub and Imad Wasim haven’t enjoyed playing spinners either, striking at less than 125 in T20Is since January 2022.

Probable XI: Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Dilpreet Bajwa, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Dillon Heylinger, Saad bin Zafar, Junai Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Jeremy Gordon

Did you know?

• Pakistan’s Powerplay run-rate of 5.41 is currently the lowest among the 20 teams in the T20 WC 2024

• Aaron Johnson has had a strike rate of 147.40 in the Powerplay in T20Is since the last T20 World Cup. In comparison, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan have had strike rates of 132.03 and 121.43 respectively in this period

What they said:

Bouncing back from the first game was important. Trust me, it wasn’t that easy… Very good to get our first win in the WC. Hopefully we can continue from strength to strength. Our next focus is Pakistan – Nicholas Kirton, following Canada’s win against Ireland

As a batting unit, you can’t lose as many wickets as we are losing. Players have got to take responsibility when that opportunity comes – Gary Kirsten after Pakistan’s loss against India