Canada captain says 'anything is possible' in T20 World Cup match against Pakistan

Canada can expect a motivated Pakistan when they meet Tuesday at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in suburban New York.

Winless after two games at the 20-country cricket tournament, the sixth-ranked Pakistanis need to beat No. 23 Canada and No. 11 Ireland and get help elsewhere if they are to progress to the Super-8 stage.

Canada, meanwhile, is buoyed by its first-ever T20 World Cup win — a 12-run victory over Ireland on Friday that followed a seven-wicket loss to the 18th-ranked U.S. in the tournament opener June 1.

"Everybody's in a positive mood. Our last game went really well," said Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET start. "It instilled a belief in us that if we play good cricket on the day, we can take down any opponent.

"I know that we are coming up against quite a high-ranked and well-experienced team in Pakistan but the reality is lately they haven't been playing the good brand of cricket that they're known for. They are under the pump. They have lost two games. So if we're able to play good cricket on the day and we're able to put some good pressure early on in the game, anything is possible."

The emotions are far different in cricket-crazy Pakistan.

Pakistan, which won the T20 World Cup in 2009 and was runner-up to England in 2022, is getting roasted back home in the wake of losses to the U.S. (by five runs in a Super Over) and No. 1 India (by six runs Sunday).

Pakistan "choked" in the loss to India was the assessment of Dawn, a Pakistani English-language newspaper that has called it 'a horrendous T20 World Cup for Pakistan."

"I think I should have a template text 'Disappointed & hurt' automatically set to be posted," Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani international bowler and current