India qualifies for the Super 8 Stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup by defeating the USA by 7 wickets
India qualified for the Super 8 Stage of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup by defeating the United States of America by 7 wickets on Wednesday at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first on a pitch which has suited fast bowlers so far in the tournament.
Arshdeep Singh kicked off the proceedings in style as Shayan Jahangir was trapped Leg Before Wicket and the Karachi-born batter walked away in dismay after getting out on a golden duck. Many fans would have felt that Arshdeep had given the perfect start to the Men in Blue but the Punjab Kings ace also dismissed Andreis Gous who skied the ball and Hardik Pandya completed an easy catch.
Steven Taylor and skipper Aaron Jones tried to re-build the innings from scratch as the duo successfully negated the threat posed by Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep which included the first maximum of the innings hit by Jones against Siraj on the last ball of the fourth over.
Rohit then turned to Jasprit Bumrah who continued to trouble Jones with seam and swing before Hardik Pandya was introduced into the bowling attack and the Mumbai Indians skipper also did a fine job by conceding only one run from his first over.
The USA was stranded at a score of 18/2, the lowest ever for the United States in T20Is while it was also the lowest powerplay score against India in a T20 World Cup match.
While Bumrah’s second over leaked a few runs, Pandya was back with a bang as he dismissed Jones via a bouncer as the USA skipper top-edged it and found Siraj at the boundary line.
Shivam Dube was the next to be introduced into the bowling attack and the Chennai Super Kings all-rounder leaked a boundary on his first ball as Nitish Kumar was happy that the ball raced to the fence via a streaky edge. Later in the over, Taylor pulled Dube away for a big maximum which landed on the shoulder of a security personnel ending a bad over for India.
Axar Patel was handed the ball as Rohit switched to the spinners after an unsuccessful over from Dube and the Delhi Capitals all-rounder ended up conceding 5 runs. After the drinks break, Siraj was re-introduced into the attack but the fast bowler also failed to break the partnership between Nitish and Taylor.
In the 12th over, Taylor smacked another maximum, this time down the ground against Patel who immediately took revenge on the southpaw by dismissing him on a score of 24 runs off 30 balls.
Hardik was entrusted with the 13th over and Nitish didn’t show any respect to the bowler who dismissed his skipper by smashing a maximum over the long-on region before procuring a boundary down the ground later in the over.
Axar proved to be expensive on Wednesday evening as Corey Anderson smashed a maximum over the deep mid-wicket region making it the third consecutive over to witness a six. Arshdeep’s re-introduction meant an end to Nitish’s courageous innings as the Ontario-born batter holed out in the deep with Siraj completing yet another fine catch at the boundary.
The 16th over, bowled by Bumrah, started with a streaky boundary off Anderson’s blade and Harrmeet Singh joined the party of smashing arguably the best bowler on the planet with a six over the fine leg region.
In the next over, Pandya started by bowling three consecutive dot balls to Harmeet which put the pressure on the hosts and Anderson succumbed to it as he tried to pull away a bouncer but top-edged it straight up in the air as Rishabh Pant pouched the ball in his mitts.
Harmeet’s innings could have also ended on the first ball of the 18th over as he pulled a bouncer by Arshdeep straight to Siraj who spilt the ball after taking two fine catches earlier in the day. But, Arshdeep finally got his man a couple of deliveries later as Harmeet edged the ball straight to Pant.
The USA reached the 100-run mark in Arshdeep’s over who ended his spell with figures of 4/9 as the left-arm fast bowler starred for India on Wednesday. After Bumrah conceded only 3 runs in the penultimate over of the innings, Siraj conceded a boundary to Shadley van Schalkwyk ending USA’s innings at a score of 110/8.
The left-arm pacers ruled the roost on Wednesday in New York
While Sharma started the chase with an easy single, Virat Kohli was dismissed on a golden duck as an outswinger from Saurabh Netravalkar produced an edge off Kohli’s blade and Gous made no mistake behind the wickets in pouching the catch safely.
Pant came in at No.3 and smashed a boundary over backward point off Ali Khan’s first ball of the innings. When the partnership was building, Netravalkar dismissed Rohit who skied the ball straight up in the air and Harmeet completed the catch dismissing the Indian skipper on a score of 3 runs off 6 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav then walked out to bat and got hurt on his right thumb courtesy of an inswinger from Netravalkar who just couldn’t stop hurting the Indian team.
After a decent over from Jasdeep Singh, Suryakumar exacted revenge on his Mumbai U-15 teammate Netravalkar by pulling off a vintage Suryakumar shot which flew over the fine leg region for India’s first maximum of the innings.
Like Suryakumar, Pant also hit his first maximum of the innings off Jasdeep as the fielder at deep backward square leg was well inside the boundary and was back-pedalling in the hope of a catch but it ended as another six runs for the Indian side.
After the powerplay overs, van Schalkwyk was introduced into the bowling attack and he built pressure by conceding only 3 runs from his first over. Then, Ali’s re-introduction spelt good luck for the USA fans as the Attock-born fast bowler castled Pant at a score of 18 runs off 20 balls.
Dube was the next to bat for the Men in Blue but his struggles in New York continued as he failed to procure runs at a fast pace with India struggling at 47/3 after 10 overs and Dube scoring only 3 runs off his first 9 balls.
After procuring a double on the first ball of the 11th over, the southpaw played four consecutive dot balls before getting lucky as a streaky edge gifted Dube a boundary on the last ball of the over. Another economical over from Anderson further mounted pressure on the duo of Dube and Suryakumar with 56 runs required off the last eight overs.
All the pressure built up by the USA could have paid off in the 13th over as Suryakumar top-edged the ball to Netravalkar at third man but the fast bowler wasn’t able to hold onto the ball after doing all the hard work in the field.
Khan’s express pace finally helped India break the 17-ball boundaryless streak as Suryakumar found a big gap in the mid-wicket region and placed his shot to perfection for four runs. In Anderson’s next over, Dube finally joined the party with a huge maximum flying over the deep mid-wicket region allowing the Indian fans to take a collective sigh of relief.
Before the start of the 16th over, the hosts were docked 5 penalty runs for taking more than 60 seconds to start a new over for the third time in the innings. The added runs gave a mental boost to Suryakumar in the 17th over who first played an inside-out shot over the extra cover region for a maximum before going down and ramping the ball over the fine leg fielder for four runs.
After an economical 18th over, Suryakumar brought up his half-century off 49 balls and Dube provided the finishing touches as the duo strung together the longest partnership for the Men in Blue in the ongoing campaign while also chasing the highest target at the venue in the ongoing tournament, that too with 10 balls to spare.