Pakistan were eliminated as the USA advanced to the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup on Friday when their match against Ireland was abandoned at Lauderhill.
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The USA reached the last eight in their debut appearance in the T20 World Cup largely thanks to their shock Super Over win over Pakistan.
A USA defeat to Ireland would have handed Pakistan the chance to come back into the top two when they face Ireland at the same venue on Sunday.
But Pakistan, who were beaten finalists in the tournament two years ago, faced the ignominy of an early exit.
Having played just three games with a defeat to India and their sole victory coming against Canada, this is the earliest Pakistan have exited the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan reached the tournament’s final four on all but two of the occasions when they were eliminated in the group stage (in 2014 and 2016).
Former Pakistan cricketer Ahmad Shahzad shared his disappointment on the team’s exit.
Shahzad posted on X, “The deserving team is through to Super 8 round. If you’re depending on Ireland to defeat someone, you seriously don’t deserve to qualify. Don’t think even “Kudrat Ka Nizam” works for those who are not deserving or ready to improve. All eyes on PCB chairman now! #T20WorldCup”
The 17th-ranked US joined the West Indies, India, Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan in the Super Eights, with two more teams yet to qualify.
The USA qualifying for the Super Eights is the seventh instance of an associate team progressing from the group stage to the Super stage in T20 World Cups after Ireland (2009), Netherlands (2014), Afghanistan (2016), Namibia (2021), Scotland (2021) and the Netherlands (2022).
The Super Eights starting on Wednesday splits into two groups, with each team guaranteed three games to try and reach the semifinals.