Losing to an Associate nation in an ICC tournament isn’t something new to Pakistan cricket.

They had lost to Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup, but had still made the final. On Thursday, their shock defeat to minnows USA in Dallas has now put their progress to the Super Eight under a cloud.

Pakistan had suffered a defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in the last edition of the tournament in Australia but recovered to progress to the knockouts. They lost to England in the final.

Babar Azam’s men take on India in the marquee clash on Sunday and will be under pressure to deliver in what could turn out to be a must-win match. The niggle to Imad Wasim had upset the balance of the side and it showed in their performance.

An unsettled middle order besides sloppy batting and bowling made their task difficult against a disciplined and motivated USA team.

From a PowerPlay score of 30/3, Babar and Shadab Khan managed to score 63 in the next six overs. However, just as they were looking settled, Pakistan lost the wickets of Shadab and Azam Khan off successive deliveries in the 13th over. After Babar too fell a couple of overs later, Pakistan managed a below-par total of 159.

“To be honest, whenever you lose a game, you are always upset. We did not play good in all three departments,” Babar said after the defeat. “For six overs, I think we did not capitalise properly, but later on, after the 10th over, we got momentum, but again we lost too many wickets and then your momentum is gone. So yeah... I think as
a batting unit we need to step it up in the middle and in the end.

“The first six overs, the ball was holding and was swinging. But later on, I didn’t feel it was a different wicket. It settled down a bit. Because of the early (10.30am local time) start, the fast bowlers will obviously get a little help. There was some juice in the pitch early morning.

“So they utilised that and executed their plan. It was difficult in the beginning, but we covered it. I think when we lost the wickets back-to-back, that was the turning point. But as a professional, you have to step up in the middle order. This is not an excuse... I think we played badly,” he said.

The Pakistan captain also admitted the possibility of the players slipping into a relaxed mindset.