Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will clash at the Twenty20 World Cup in New York on Sunday for the 13th time in cricket's shortest format.

The two nuclear-armed nations only face each other in international tournaments due to political tensions and last met in a 2022 T20 World Cup encounter in Melbourne, when India won.

The tally in their T20 encounters so far stands in India's favour with nine wins to three -- but the honours are even in their last four matches.

AFP looks back at five memorable India-Pakistan T20 matches:

- Wily Dhoni -

India and Pakistan's first T20 encounter at Durban in 2007 ended in a dramatic tie before being decided in a bowl-out -- cricket's equivalent of football's penalty shoot-out.

Pakistan elected to field in the group match in the inaugural T20 World Cup and restricted India to 141-9.

With the scores level at the end of Pakistan's reply India skipper MS Dhoni then outfoxed the opposition by choosing non-specialists to try to hit the wicket, rather than regular bowlers used to tempting batsmen to offer catches.

Part-time bowlers Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa and premier spinner Harbhajan Singh all hit the stumps, while Pakistan's top-line pacemen Yasir Arafat and Umar Gul, and spinner Shahid Afridi all missed.

It is the only time a World Cup match has been decided by a bowl-out, with the tiebreaker now replaced by a super over.

- Misbah misfires -

After meeting in the group stage of that inaugural World Cup in 2007, the two rivals went on to face each other again 10 days later in the final in Johannesburg, the only time they have contested a final.

Set 158 for victory, Pakistan lost wickets regularly but Misbah-ul-Haq kept the target in sight with his gritty batting.

Pakistan reached the final over needing 13 against an unlikely Indian bowling option in Joginder Sharma.

Misbah hit a six after a wide and a dot ball, to need six from four balls, only to opt for a scoop shot that got more height than distance.

It landed in the hands of S. Sreesanth at short fine-leg to trigger wild Indian celebrations as they won the World Cup by five runs.

- Shaheen strikes -

India started as favourites in a 2021 T20 World Cup group match in Dubai but Pakistan pace ace Shaheen Shah Afridi soon upset the predictions.

Tall left-arm quick Shaheen sent back opener Rohit Sharma for a first-ball duck as he rattled the Indian top-order, finishing with 3-31.

Virat Kohli attempted to rebuild with 57 but fell to Shaheen in the penultimate over.

Mohammad Rizwan made 79 and skipper Babar Azam 68 as Pakistan took the India bowling attack apart to cruise to a 10-wicket win -- their first ever World Cup victory against their fiercest rivals.

- All-round Nawaz -

Pakistan returned to Dubai to face India in the 2022 Asia Cup Super Four clash after they were beaten by the neighbours in the group stage.

India rode on Kohli's 60 to reach 181-7 but the total could have been more had it not been from some disciplined bowling by Pakistan spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan.

Left-hander Nawaz returned figures of 1-25 before he hammered a 20-ball 42 to steer Pakistan to a five-wicket victory with one ball to spare.

- 'King Kohli' at MCG -

Most recently in a T20, the two rivals met in an electric atmosphere at a packed 90,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground for a 2022 T20 World Cup group match.

Pakistan posted 159-8 and had India in trouble at 31-4 before Virat Kohli played a knock for the ages with an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls, putting on a key stand of 113 with Hardik Pandya.

India needed 31 off the final 12 balls but Kohli hit two sixes off pace bowler Haris Rauf in the 19th over and India won by four wickets on the final ball.

Bangladesh emerged victorious from a gripping encounter with Sri Lanka in Texas with the two-wicket victory getting them off to a winning start in Group D of the T20 World Cup.

Rishad Hossain produced a brilliant spell of leg-spin as Bangladesh fought back to restrict Sri Lanka to 124-9.

Then Liton Das (36) and Towhid Hridoy (40 from 20 balls) put Bangladesh in command before some excellent pace bowling from Nuwan Thushara (4-18), in his second spell threatened a late twist in the plot.

But veteran Mahmudullah Riyad showed all his experience at the end to see Bangladesh over the line with an unbeaten 16.

It was the final of four games at the Grand Prairie Stadium and the Dallas crowd have been treated to some top entertainment on a surface which offered some bounce and produced good contests between bat and ball.

Sri Lanka made a fast start, rattling their way to 53-2 in six overs and they progressed to 100-3 after 14 overs with Pathum Nissanka's 47 from 28 including eight boundaries (one six).

But then the 21-year-old wrist spinner Rishad struck twice in successive balls to totally change the momentum of the innings.

Charith Asalanka's sweep shot found Shakib Al Hasan at deep backward square and he snaffled up the catch.

Sri Lanka skipper Wanindu Hasaranga was the next victim of Rishad's spin, edging a sharply turning delivery to Soumya Sarkar at slip.

Dhananjaya de Silva who made a solid 21 off 26 balls was then beaten by Rishad's flight and was stumped by the alert Liton.

Sri Lanka were just able to add 24 runs from the final six overs losing six wickets in that period.

Rishad finished with career-best T20I figures of 3-22 from his four overs.

Canada Friday defeated Ireland by 12 runs in the 13th match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 being played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York

Canada set a 138-run target against Ireland who could reach only 125-7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Canada had a poor start as the Irish bowlers dominated and removed their top order in the first nine overs for just 53 runs. It looked like yet another low-scoring encounter in New York but Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva saved them.

The two batters combined for a crucial 75-run partnership which steered Canada to a defendable total. Kirton played a commendable knock, missing out on his well-deserving half-century by just one run as he got out after scoring 49 runs on 35 balls.

However, Movva remained on the wicket till the last ball and helped his team conclude their innings at 137-7.

For Ireland, Craig Young and Barry McCarthy took two wickets each while Gareth Delany and Mark Adair managed to get one each.

Ireland have won the toss and decided to bowl first against Canada in the 13th match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.

Two matches — Sri Lanka vs South Africa and India vs Ireland — have been played in New York and the team bowling managed to record a comfortable win. Stirling also hoped to restrict Ireland to a chaseable total.

Irish captain Paul Stirling hoped to restrict Canada to a chaseable total on a pitch which has a lot lesser grass than on the previous days.

Canada’s captain Saad Bin Zafar said would have bowled first too, given the moisture on the surface.

"It's always good to see an Associate country beating a Full Member country," he said of USA beating Pakistan last night.

Both Ireland and Canada make one change each.

Playing XIs

Ireland: 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker, 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Josh Little, 11 Craig Young

Canada: 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Pargat Singh, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva (wk), 6 Dilpreet Bajwa, 7 Saad Bin Zafar (capt), 8 Junaid Siddiqui, 9 Dilon Heyliger, 10 Kaleem Sana, 11 Jeremy Gordon

Pakistan cricket fans were hurt and angry Friday after a stunning T20 World Cup loss to hosts the United States, describing it as a historic rock-bottom for their beloved national sport.

"I am distraught," said retired banker Raju Jameel, who was close to tears after staying up late to watch the match on big screens in a shopping district in Karachi.

"It's hurtful and shameful, and there must be a thorough investigation of this defeat."

A Super Over thriller in Texas saw T20 World Cup debutants the United States beat the 2022 finalists and 2009 winners in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition.

"There can be no bigger shock for Pakistan cricket than this," said former international and now cricket analyst Sikander Bakht on Geo TV, the country's most popular private news channel.

"It is like Pakistan beating America at basketball."

While cricket is a national obsession in Pakistan, it barely registers in the United States, leaving most Americans either bewildered or apathetic over their momentous victory.

Commentators resorted to baseball metaphors to explain the magnitude of the Americans' achievement to domestic audiences.

But Pakistani fans had hunched over screens of all sizes late into the night, expecting to celebrate an easy win.

Instead, Friday was a "black day in Pakistan cricket", according to former batsman Basit Ali, who blamed the loss on poor squad selection by captain Babar Azam.

"He has been consistently selecting players who are close to him and that has put paid to Pakistan's chances," he told AFP.

"I think our cricket has not seen a worst day," added former Pakistan wicketkeeper and batsman Kamran Akmal.

Cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) say they are hoping for an improvement in the surfaces at the T20 World Cup venue in New York after widespread criticism of the pitch.

The opening two games at the recently built temporary venue, the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, were both low-scoring affairs hampered by uneven bounce.

The venue will host the marquee match up of the group stage on Sunday when favourites India take on rivals Pakistan.

"T20 Inc and the ICC recognise that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would have all wanted," the ICC said in a statement.

"The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday's game to remedy the situation and deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches," they added.

On Wednesday, India won their Group A game against Ireland by eight wickets after bowling out their opponents for just 96.

Monday saw Sri Lanka bowled out for 77 as South Africa won with 22 balls to spare.

Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe player and ex-England team director, told Cricinfo that he felt the surface was not up to scratch.

"I've got to say that is not a good surface to play an international match on. It's bordering on dangerous," said Flower.

"You saw the ball bouncing from a length both ways, so skidding low occasionally but in the main bouncing unusually high and striking people on the thumb, on the gloves, on the helmet and making life very, very difficult for any batsman," he added.

Captain Richie Berrington upstaged his Namibian counterpart in leading Scotland to a table-topping, five-wicket victory in Group B at the T20 World Cup on Thursday at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Thwarted by the weather in their opening fixture against England two days earlier at the same venue, Berrington's composed unbeaten 47 off 36 balls (two fours, three sixes) and the timely support of the aggressive Michael Leask (35 off 17 balls, four sixes) paced the Scots to a winning total of 157 for five with nine balls to spare.

Their combined effort in a fifth-wicket partnership of 74 rendered Gerhard Erasmus' all-round contribution in vain after the Namibian captain had topscored with 52 out of a total of 155 for nine, followed by figures of two for 29 off four overs as Scotland wobbled at 73 for four in the 11th over.

This was Scotland's first-ever victory over Namibia in a T20 International and lifts them to the head of the standings on three points from two games in a group that also includes the defending champions England and 2021 winners Australia.

"I don't think we'll get over this for a while. It's a hell of a feeling," said an elated Leask after receiving the 'Player of the Match' award.

"Given the last time we played them they had us three down in the first over, this feels special."

Leask's task in providing the necessary spark to the Scotland scoring rate is something he has become used to.

"My role is simple: hit the ball hard, try and find gaps, and if it's in the slot, try and hit it out of the ground," he said.

For Erasmus it was a particularly bitter pill to swallow given his overall contribution.

Pakistan were off to a disastrous start as the United States of America (USA) Thursday beat Pakistan in Super Over in the Group A match of the T20 World Cup in Dallas. 

The USA gave Pakistan 19 runs target in the super over while Pakistan could make only 13 for the loss of one wicket.

Pakistan scored 159 runs in their opening game of the T20 World Cup in Dallas against the United States. In reply, the USA also scored 159 runs in 20 overs losing just three wickets in the process.

Nosthush Kenjige was the pick of the bowlers for the US side whereas Skipper Babar Azam was the top scorer for Pakistan with 44 runs.

Babar Azam and Shadab Khan took the attack to the USA after the Green Team lost three early wickets in the powerplay. The pair sent Harmeet Singh for a 19-run over before the leggie was dismissed by Kenjige who subsequently got the better of Azam Khan on the next ball.

Runs dried up for the Green Team after they ended the powerplay with a run rate of exactly five. The loss of wickets resulted in attacking shots from skipper Babar however, to no avail. Shadab and Babar held the fort until the ninth over before Shadab began to attack the American bowler to try and reverse some of the pressure. Two sixes in the first two balls and a boundary off the last from the 10th over helped Pakistan cross the 60-run mark.

Babar departed in the 16th over after he was trapped in front for a leg-before-wicket by Jasdeep Singh with Iftikhar Ahmed following his captain two overs later. Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed by Saurabh Netravalkar in the first over after Steven Taylor caught a blinder in slips.

Usman Khan was the next to depart after Nosthush Kenjige tossed the ball up who skied it to long off and was caught by Nitish Kumar. Fakhar Zaman followed next after he scooped a mistimed shot to short third man.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam Thursday became the highest run-getter in Twenty20 cricket during the match against the United States of America.

Babar Azam made 44 runs as he amassed 4067 T20 runs so far at an average of 41.08 in 113 innings of 120 matches he has played so far. He reached the milestone with a strike rate of 129.77 with the help of 36 half-centuries and three centuries. He is also leading in the boundaries chart with 434 boundaries to his name.

India’s Virat Kohli is now second behind Babar with 4038 runs in 110 innings of 118 matches with an average of 51.11 and a strike rate of 137.95. He has scored a ton and 37 half-centuries.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma is third on the list with 4026 runs in 144 innings of 152 matches with an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of 139.98. He has scored five hundreds and 12 half-centuries.

However, the top slot is likely to change hands as the trio is active in the T20 World Cup and the leading run-getter will be determined after the event.