USA are fast turning out to be a side you'd seek to avoid in a world event if you were a Pakistan, known to be the ultimate upset victims. Most in the USA squad are a battle-hardened T20 lot who play 60-70 quality T20 games in a calendar year. That T20 muscle memory, a higher risk tolerance palate and overall adaptability to the format had USA sail through to a historic series win against an undercooked T20 side in Bangladesh and of course the high voltage clash against Canada on Saturday.

Runners up at the last T20 World Cup, the mercurial Pakistan now appear to be a shadow of themselves in contrast to the world event in Australia. Pakistan come into the world cup enduring a rather torrid time on and off the field. A crushing 4-1 defeat in New Zealand saw the deposition of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Which was followed by an embarrassing drawn series against a beleaguered New Zealand at home. Pakistan even dropped a game against Bangladesh before getting hammered two nil at the hands of England most recently.

In a high stakes game, USA would dearly want their most celebrated player Corey Anderson to come to the party. Having last turned out for New Zealand in 2018, Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf got a fair account of Anderson's ability to turn the clock back with their time together at San Francisco Unicorns at last year's MLC. The ex Kiwi enjoyed a prolific run with the bat averaging 47 with a strike rate of over 145.