Colombo, Feb 10 (IANS) USA captain Monank Patel felt his side lost control of things, with both bat and ball, during the middle overs after suffering a 32-run defeat against Pakistan in their Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Tuesday.

Assessing the bowling effort while defending 190, Monank said the USA started reasonably well but failed to sustain pressure through the middle phase, even though the pacers recovered towards the end.

“We bowled decently in the Power-play but didn’t bowl well in the middle overs. Came back in the last four overs, where the pacers bowled well. We were still in the game with 190,” Monank said during the post-match presentation.

Monank felt a similar pattern unfolded during the chase, with the USA unable to maintain intent once the field spread, allowing Pakistan’s spinners to dictate terms. He said, “Played well in the Power-play, but couldn’t show intent in the middle overs. While batting, we didn’t show intent. Their spinners were not giving enough pace, and it was hard to hit the boundary options. We panicked a bit, and that cost us the game.”

Despite the loss, the USA skipper emphasised the progress his side has made over the past year and said the group’s confidence remained high heading into the contest.

“We’ve been playing really good cricket for the last 12-15 months. Coming here for the second game, we were confident enough. Just small mistakes in the game,” he said.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the tournament, Monank stressed the importance of finishing strongly while adapting quickly to changing conditions and venues.

“Want to make sure we finish this World Cup strong with two wins. It’s not easy playing at different venues. Now we’ll go to Chennai. We’ll have one session there. Will work hard to come back stronger,” the USA skipper concluded.

–IANS

vi/bsk/