Tournament debutants United States of America stunned former champions Pakistan via the Super Over to cause the first big upset of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in Dallas on Thursday. (More Cricket News)
Asked to bat first, Pakistan scored 159 for seven, then the Americans matched the score to force a Super Over. In the subsequent play, the USA scored 18 runs for the loss of one wicket then restricted Pakistan to 13/1.
But this is not the first upset in the history of the T20 World Cup. Here's a look at five such results
Netherlands beat England in 2009
Played at the iconic Lord's, hosts England posted 162/5 thanks to a 102-run opening stand between Ravi Bopara (46 off 34) and Luke Wright (71 off 49).
But the Netherlands chased it down in a last-ball thriller with Edgar Schiferli taking a couple (courtesy an overthrow) off the final delivery, bowled by Stuart Broad for a four-wicket win. Tom de Grooth, who had earlier played a composed knock of 49 off 30, won the Player of the Match.
Afghanistan beat West Indies in 2016
The West Indies won the T20 World Cup in India. But Darren Sammy's troop from the Caribbean endured a six-run defeat against Afghanistan at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.
The Windies won the toss and elected to field first in their Super 10 match. Afghans rode Najibullah Zadran's 48 off 40 to post a fighting total of 123/7 and it proved just about enough as Rashid Khan (2/26) and Mohammad Nabi (2/26) weaved their spin magic.
Namibia beat Sri Lanka in 2022
A thrashing in every sense. Sri Lanka, the 2014 champions, decided to bowl first at Kardinia Park in Geelong, Australia, and they were in a prime position to dismiss the minnows for a lowly total. But Namibia recovered from 35/3 in the sixth over to post 163/7 Jan Frylinck (44 off 28) and JJ Smit (31 off 16) adding 70 runs in 34 balls for the seventh wicket.
Then the bowlers turned up. David Wiese (2/16), Bernard Scholtz (2/18) and Ben Shikongo (2/22) claimed a couple of wickets to set up a 55-run win in their First Round, Group A match. Sri Lanka's top scorer was skipper Dasun Shanaka, who made 29 off 23. Frylinck took home the Player of the Match Award for the aforementioned knock.
Ireland beat England in 2022
The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia also witnessed a few more unexpected results, including Ireland's wins over the West Indies and England.
In a do-or-die First Round match at Bellerive Oval, Hobart, Ireland handed the Windies a nine-wicket defeat and eliminated the 2012 and 2016 champions from the competition. They chased down Windies' 146/5 in 17.3 overs with Gareth Delany winning the POTM award for his 3/16 with the ball.
In the Super 12 stage, they beat England by five runs at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. Asked to set a target, Ireland managed only 157 in 19.2 overs, but when the play was finally stopped due to rain, England were five runs behind the DLS par score of 110 in 14.3 overs. Skipper Andrew Balbirnie was the POTM for his 62 off 47.
England, however, went on to lift the title.
USA beat Pakistan in 2024
Then, the Americans pulled off probably the biggest upset in the history of the T20 World Cup. After restricting the 2009 champions to 159/7 in their Group A match, they forced a Super Over at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas.
Having dominated every play in the regulation play, the Monank Patel-led side feasted on Pakistan's sloppy game to score 18/1. Then pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, who kept the likes of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan earlier in the match, held his nerves to complete a sensational win. Pakistan could only muster 13/1 in reply.
