The action continues in Group A of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 as Pakistan strive to set the record straight against the USA in Colombo on Tuesday, February 6. The Sinhalese Sports Club will once again host the Men in Green, who would be keen to leave behind them the horrors of losing a Super Over tussle to the Americans at the previous edition of the competition.
Pakistan’s sensational outing in Dallas saw them lose the tie-breaker and eventually miss out on a Super 8s spot, with another defeat to India. Salman Ali Agha’s men nearly fell into a similarly precarious hole at the beginning of their latest campaign.
Pakistan almost made an absolute mess of their chase of the otherwise modest 148-run target in the opening game against the Netherlands.
The mercurial side was reeling at 7 down ahead of the 19th over, with 29 more required off 12 balls.
It was at this point that all-rounder Faheem Ashraf emerged as Pakistan’s unlikely hero with a fantastic cameo. He blazed Netherlands pacer Logan van Beek for 3 sixes and took his team home with an unbeaten 29 off 11 deliveries. Faheem was honoured with the player of the match award for his exploits under pressure.
He made Van Beek pay dearly for missing his mark completely on a series of attempted yorkers. One couldn’t help but wonder if Van Beek had taken cues from an excellent previous over bowled by his pace partner Paul van Meekeren, who bowled it into the pitch on a slow-low surface and made it tough for batters to line him up.
The USA would relate to the angst the Dutch would’ve felt after their loss. Having reduced defending champions India to a shocking 77 for 6, the Americans lost control of the proceedings following a memorable counterattack by Suryakumar Yadav.
The Indian skipper played one of his finest knocks and hammered 84* off 49 deliveries, including 10 fours and 4 sixes. Once India reached the score of 161/9 on a strangely uneven Wankhede pitch in Mumbai, it became an uphill task for the inexperienced USA batting line-up.
They only managed to reach 132/8 in response.
Colombo Weather Forecast
The forecast is for largely clear skies and good weather for cricket at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Both teams can expect temperatures between 24 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius. The humidity is expected to nudge over 55 per cent, with the
wind blowing at around 12-14 km/hour.
