(CMC) – India qualified for the Super Eight stage of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup after left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and enterprising batsman Suryakumar Yadav played leading roles in a seven-wicket win against tournament co-hosts the United States in their top-of-the-table battle yesterday.
Arshdeep captured four for nine from his allotted four overs – including two wickets in the first over – to earn the Player-of-the-Match award, and the Americans stumbled to 110 for eight in their allocation of 20 overs after they were put in to bat in their Group A match at the Nassau County Stadium.
India too wobbled at the start of their chase after left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar dismissed heralded openers Virat Kohli for a first-ball duck and Rohit Sharma for three before Yadav, not out on 50, and Shivam Dube, not out on 31, steered their side over the finish line with 10 balls remaining.
The win was third on the trot for India after they beat Ireland by eight wickets last Wednesday at the same venue, where they also beat political and sporting arch-rivals Pakistan by six runs this past Sunday.
The result carried the Indians to the top of the group on six points, and they will face Canada on Saturday at the Central Broward Regional Park (CBRP) in the American city of Lauderhill in the state of Florida in their final group match.
“I am very happy with my performance,” Arshdeep said during a post-play TV interview. “In the last two games, I gave away too many runs, but the team has kept backing me.
“The [pitch] is helpful for pacers. We’re getting seam movement, so all we had to do was hit the right lengths and let the pitch help out.”
He added, “Here, you can use the wicket more at the death. You can back your execution with yorkers. [Jasprit] Bumrah told me as well to surprise batters with the bouncers.
“You need to have routines before the game starts, trying to keep it simple and follow through every day. All bowlers have done well, and we are looking forward to the same in the next stage as well.”
The Americans, second in Group A with four points after this defeat, can also qualify for the next round if they beat Ireland tomorrow at the CBRP or if the match ends in a no result.
Arshdeep got Shayan Jahangir lbw for a duck with the first ball of the match, and he added the scalp of South Africa-born batsman Andries Gous caught at mid-on for two from a miscued pull at a short ball with the final ball of the first over.
The Americans struggled to 18 for two at the close of the Power Play, but they endured a major setback when stand-in captain Aaron Jones, a Barbados Pride batsman of recent vintage, miscued a hook at a short ball from Hardik Pandya and was caught at deep fine leg for 11 in the eighth over.
The United States were 25 for three, but the long-standing Nitish Kumar made the top score of 27 and burly left-hander Steven Taylor, a member of the deactivated Jamaica Tallawahs franchise in the Caribbean Premier League in the past, supported with 24 and set the stage for a respectable total.
“We were 10 to 15 runs short,” Jones said. “We know if we’d gotten 125 to 130, it would have been a tough total. The bowlers were disciplined, and we are pleased that the game got so close.”
Jones was leading the American team because regular captain Monank Patel was sidelined with a left shoulder injury.
The Indian pacers indulged themselves with a succession of short-pitched balls, and most of the American batsmen gifted their wickets by playing ill-advised, cross-batted strokes at deliveries that bounced awkwardly on the notoriously uneven drop-in pitch. But Netravalkar silenced a predominantly India-supporting crowd when he got Kohli caught at slip with the second ball of the chase, and Rohit caught at mid-off from a leading edge with the second ball of his second over.
India were 15 for two and closed the Power Play on 33 for two before Trinbago Knight Riders pacer Ali Khan bowled Rishabh Pant for 18 in the eighth over, but Netravalkar went from hero to zero when he dropped a swirling chance from Yadav on 22 in the 13th over.
The Indians were 59 for three, and Yadav and Dube found the boundary with greater ease following that spill and ushered their side over the finish line.
This was the final fixture in the tournament at the Nassau County Stadium, where the string of low-scoring matches did not appear to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds or diminish interest in the sport.