- Sunday, February 23, 2025
Both teams have remained unbeaten so far in the tournament with one game to go for each in the group stage.
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER champions India on Wednesday (12) defeated co-hosts United States of America on a tricky wicket at Nassau County International cricket Stadium in New York by seven wickets in a T20 World Cup Group A game, which ensured their spot in the Super Eight stage. Their fixture with Australia in Super Eight is now confirmed.
India took 18.2 overs to overhaul the opponents’ 111 despite facing hiccups early in the chase. Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten 50 and Shivam Dube remained not out on 31 to take their side home after the Men in Blue lost three quick wickets, including those of captain Rohit Sharma and out-of-form Virat Kohli. India’s task was made easier after the umpire penalised the US five runs for delaying between overs under the stop-clock rule.
India have now proceeded to the Super Eight as A1 team (the position was pre-decided irrespective of India’s points) while Australia are B2 even though they have more points (six out of three) in their group at the moment. Both teams have a game left each — India with Canada and Australia with Scotland on Saturday (15).
Read: India tame a spirited US to advance to Super 8
The two teams will now play in a high-voltage clash at Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet on June 24.
Afghanistan are highly likely to become the third team of the group featuring India and Australia since they are well-placed to pip the West Indies to become the toppers of Group C. The fourth team will be the second-placed team of Group D and it could be either Bangladesh or the Netherlands, who will clash in Kingstown on Thursday (13).
Read: England stumble as Australia humble them in T20 World Cup
The pre-seedings of the tournament, as has been decided by the International Cricket Council, are like the following:
A1 – India; A2 – Pakistan; B1 – England; B2 – Australia; C1 – New Zealand; C2 – West Indies; D1 – South Africa; D2 – Sri Lanka
The Super Eight stage will have two groups of four teams each and they are like:
Group 1: A1, B2, C1, D2
Group 2: A2, B1, C2, D1
The two top teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
If any of the pre-seeded teams fail to overcome the group-stage obstacle, those qualifying instead will take up that slot. For example, it is highly likely that the US will reach the Super Eight instead of Pakistan who lost their first two games of the tournament.
India and Australia have met each other 31 times in T20s with the former winning 19 times as against the latter’s 11. One game ended without a result.
In T20 World Cups, the two powerhouses have met five times with India leading 3-2.
Australia won the trophy in the 2021 edition in the UAE.
Last November, Australia beat India in the final of the 50-over World Cup in Ahmedabad to win their sixth crown.
