USA captain Monank Patel led his team from the front in the run-chase against Pakistan earlier today (Thursday, June 6) in Dallas. Opening the batting for the United States, Patel slammed a half-century off just 34 balls to give USA an upper hand in a chase of 160.
The American team are currently playing their second match in the 2024 T20 World Cup. After an excellent win against Canada, they now aiming to maintain their 100% win record in Group A.
Although Pakistan are stronger and more experienced than the USA, they had no answer to Monank Patel's batting. The Gujarat-born batter smashed seven fours and a six before nicking a ball from Mohammad Amir to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Patel first stitched up a 36-run opening stand with Steven Taylor and then added 68 runs for the second wicket with Andries Gous. While the USA's win is still not guaranteed, fans on X lauded Monank for his fantastic knock. A fan labeled it as his best innings and wrote:
"THIS IS INCREDIBLE. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. THIS IS A CLASS. MONANK PATEL HAS PLAYED THE BEST INNINGS OF HIS LIFE TODAY."
Another popular cricket fan on X mentioned that he had nothing but respect for the USA skipper for his knock.
"Take a bow, Monank Patel. What a knock against the quality Pakistan bowling line-up. Respect, Respect and Respect," his tweet read.
Another fan explained that this is what he called captain leading from the front in a cricket match.
"This is called skipper leading from the front at its best. And Monank Patel is doing it for USA," the fan commented.
Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan was also in awe of Monank's batting style.
"What a swag. Brilliant batting by Monank patel," the T20 World Cup 2007 champion tweeted.
Even fans from Pakistan praised Monank for his batting performance. A popular X user from Pakistan wrote:
"What an innings by the USA skipper Monank Patel against Pakistan. Very well played."
Will Monank Patel become the first USA captain to beat Pakistan in T20 World Cup?
This is the first-ever T20 World Cup match between Pakistan and USA. The Men in Green scored 159 in the first innings, and in reply, the United States reached 139/3 after 18 overs at the time of writing.
The match has gone down to the wire, with 21 runs required off the last 12 balls. It will be interesting to see if Monank's men can win this match. You can follow the live scorecard here.
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