- Sunday, February 23, 2025
India’s Arshdeep Singh and Suryakumar Yadav delivered with the ball and bat, respectively, to help the former champions win their third match on the trot.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA on Wednesday (12) beat co-hosts US by seven wickets at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium to maintain their perfect record in the ongoing T20 World Cup and qualify for the Super Eight stage.
India restricted their opponents to 110 for 8 wickets in 20 overs after captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh produced his best bowling performance in the T20 format by taking four wickets for only nine runs in four overs. Hardik Pandya took two for 14 in four overs.
Nitish Kumar was the highest scorer for the US with 27 in 23 deliveries while opener Steven Taylor made 24 off 30. Former New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson made 15 off 12 while Harmeet Singh made a run-a-ball 10 and Shadley van Schalkwyk 11 off 10.
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India were in trouble while chasing the modest target with Virat Kohli getting out for a golden duck. Sharma also fell for three and both the ace batters fell in the bowling of Saurabh Netravalkar, the hero of the US’s Super Over win over Pakistan in their previous match.
Rishabh Pant, who was India’s highest scorer in the match against Pakistan on Sunday (9), was bowled by Ali Khan, leaving the Men in Blue at 39 for 3 in the eighth over.
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It was then when Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube came together to add 72 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side home. Yadav hit an unbeaten 50 in 49 balls after he was dropped by Netravalkar while Dube was not out on 35 off 31 deliveries.
India overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare and it was the highest successful chase at the venue, eclipsing Pakistan’s 107 for 3 against Canada on Tuesday (11).
Netravalkar was the most successful bowler for the US with two wickets for 18 runs while Ali Khan got one for 21.
India were awarded five penalty runs by the umpires after the US took more than a minute between overs three times.
Arshdeep Singh was adjudged the player of the match.
India play their final group match against Canada in Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday (15) while the US, who are placed second at the moment with four points, take on Ireland, also in Lauderhill on Friday (14). A win for the US in that game will see Pakistan, Canada and Ireland crashing out of the tournament.
