Colombo: Sahibzada Farhan’s half-century and a combined bowling effort helped Pakistan beat the United States (USA) by 32 runs in the 12th match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sinhala Sports Club (SSC) on Tuesday.
Chasing a tough target of 191 runs, USA posted 158/8 in 20 overs.
Mohammad Nawaz scored 13 off one ball with two boundaries as the Associated Nation’s opening pair of Andries Gouse and Shayan put on 42 at a blistering pace.
Ghose’s dismissal halted the flow of runs for the US after he fell victim to Shatab Khan in the ninth over and scored a scratchy 3 off 10 balls as skipper Monak Patel tried to consolidate the run chase.
Shadab dismissed Shayen in the next over after scoring 49 off 34 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Following successive dismissals, Subham Ranjane and Milind Kumar (29) looked to recover with a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket before Usman Tariq smashed it on the latter’s scalp in the 16th over.
Kumar’s dismissal sparked a slump, with the US losing four more wickets at an alarming rate, including that of set batsman Ranjane, who fell prey to Shaheen Shah Afridi in the last over, who top-scored with 51 off 29 balls, 3 sixes and several fours.
Tariq led Pakistan’s bowling with economical figures of 3/27 from his four overs, followed by Shadab with 2/26, while Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen chipped in with a scalp each.
US captain Monak Patel’s decision to field first backfired as Pakistan posted 190/9 in 20 overs.
The Green Shirts started their innings with a bang as their opening pair of Farhan and Saim Ayub put on a brisk 54 in five overs.
Shadley van Schalkwyk forced an American comeback in the final over of the batting powerplay, during which he struck twice, dismissing left-arm opener Ayub and Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, as the former champions slumped to 56/2.
Ayub scored 19 runs off 17 balls with the help of 2 sixes and a four, while Agha made just one off three balls.
Following successive dismissals, star batsman Babar Azam joined opener Farhan in the middle and the duo batted fluently to stabilize the innings with an 81-run partnership for the third wicket.
The stand came to a head when Mohammad Mohsin sent Babar back for a blistering 46 off 32 balls with 4 fours and a six off the fourth delivery of the 15th over.
Pakistan suffered another major setback when Harmeet Singh, who top scored with 73 off 41 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes, dismissed their batting mainstay Farhan in the next over.
Shadab Khan shared a 16-ball 34-run partnership with Mohammad Nawaz for the fifth wicket.
Shadab hit 30 runs off 12 balls with 4 fours and a six, before Van Schalkwyk fell victim in the last over, dismissing right-arm pacer Faheem Ashrafai (one).
On the other hand, Nawaz perished on the first delivery of the final over after smashing a fuller delivery from Saurabh Netrawalkar at deep midwicket to Shayan Jahangir and scoring five runs off 10 balls.
Shadley van Schalkwyk was the standout bowler for the USA with 4 wickets for just 25 runs in his four overs, with Nethrawalkar, Mohsin and Harmeet picking up one wicket each.