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Royal Stag Fan
12 June 2024
The Indian cricket team clashed against debutants USA in their third Group A encounter of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday. Coming into the match, both teams had two wins under their belt. However, India showcased their supremacy by restricting the USA to 110/8 and chasing down the target comfortably with 7 wickets in hand. The win confirmed India's qualification to the Super 8 stage.
Young pacer Arshdeep Singh was the architect of India's thumping win. His sensational spell of 4/9 rattled the USA top order and restricted them to a below-par total. Suryakumar Yadav then anchored the modest chase with an unbeaten fifty to take India over the line.
India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to field first after winning the toss, making use of the fresh pitch conditions that assisted swing bowling. He threw the new ball to Arshdeep Singh, who immediately justified his captain's decision.
The 23-year-old left-arm seamer bamboozled the USA opener Shayan Jahangir with an in-swinging delivery, trapping him lbw right in front of the stumps off the very first ball of the innings. He followed it up by castling Andries Gous in the same over to leave the USA reeling at 3/2. Arshdeep mixed up his deliveries cleverly, using the swing on offer to perfection. His immaculate line and length forced the USA batsmen into committing mistakes.
Arshdeep returned later to dismiss the set batter, Nitish Kumar, just when he was looking dangerous. The young pacer finished with dream figures of 4/9 - the best bowling performance by an Indian in T20 World Cup history.
Opting to field first, captain Rohit Sharma capitalised on the swinging conditions upfront by giving the new ball to Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj. The duo bowled tight lines and lengths, not giving anything away to the USA batsmen. They restricted the USA to just 18/2 in the powerplay overs. Hardik bowled an excellent maiden over and dismissed the captain, Aaron Jones, when he looked dangerous. Steven Taylor (24) and Nitish Kumar (27) tried to rebuild the innings with a 31-run stand for the 4th wicket before Axar Patel broke through Taylor's defence. Some late big hits by Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh and Shadley Van Schalkwyk helped USA get past the 100-run mark. But the economical spells from Arshdeep and Hardik kept the USA down to 110/8 in their full quota of 20 overs.
Chasing 111, India suffered an early setback when inform openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed by Saurabh Netravalkar's pace bowling. The onus was now on Suryakumar Yadav to bail India out of trouble. Living up to his reputation of being the number 1 T20 batsman, Suryakumar played a beautifully composed unbeaten knock of 50 runs off 49 balls. He paced his innings brilliantly, playing some exquisite shots all around the ground. Suryakumar found the gaps with precision and kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely with singles and doubles. He got good support from Shivam Dube, who made a valuable 31 runs from 35 balls and stood there with SKY. Suryakumar maintained his calm even as wickets fell around him. He took India safely over the victory line with 10 balls to spare. His match-winning unbeaten half-century comprised 2 cheeky boundaries and 2 huge sixes.
India's successful chase of 111 runs against the USA is the highest run chase recorded at the Nassau County Stadium in New York. This is a notable achievement, considering that batting has historically been difficult at this venue. The pitch at Nassau County Stadium is two-paced and tends to assist bowlers, with the ball often stopping on the batsmen. Low totals are generally defendable here. That makes India's comfortable chase of 111 even more commendable, as they adapted well to the conditions.
The win provides India momentum and confidence heading into the business end of the T20 World Cup. As the tournament progresses towards the knockout stage, fans can also get in on the action.Seagram’s Royal Stag Package Drinking Water gives cricket fans a chance to win a trip to the West Indies to watch the T20 World Cup live, along with other amazing prizes. So sign up now on the Royal Stag Fan for a chance to win big!
