NEW YORK: Suryak­umar Yadav hit an unbeaten half-century and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh claimed a career-best 4-9 as India defeated the United States by seven wickets to reach the T20 World Cup second round here on Wednesday.

Chasing 111 to win the Group A clash, India were rattled at 15-2 and then 44-3 before Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) put on an undefeated fourth-wicket stand of 67 to secure a third win in three games for Rohit Sharma’s team with 10 balls to spare at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Despite the defeat, the US are still well-placed to join India in the Super Eights as they have four points while both Pakistan and Canada are on two.

India were stunned by Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar who had superstar batsman Virat Kohli caught behind for nought off the first ball he faced.

Rohit was then caught by Harmeet Singh at mid-off, again off the bowling of the 32-year-old Netravalkar in the third over.

Rishabh Pant’s 18-run cameo was ended when his stumps were uprooted by Ali Khan in the eighth over.

However, Yadav went to his 18th international T20 half-century from 49 balls with two fours and a pair of sixes.

Left-hander Dube’s 31 came off 35 deliveries and featured a boundary and a six on the same notoriously tricky and slow pitch where India had made just 119 in a six-run win over Pakistan at the weekend.

Earlier, Arshdeep removed recalled opener Shayan Jahangir lbw off the first ball and had Andries Gous (two) caught in the deep five balls later as the US found themselves 3-2 after the opening over.

Big-hitting skipper Aaron Jones, who clubbed an undefeated 94 in the hosts’ opening win over Canada in Dallas, made just 11 before he fell to Hardik Pandya.

That left the US on 25-3 before opener Steven Taylor (24) and top-scorer Nitish Kumar (27) put on 31 for the fourth wicket.

Nitish became Arshdeep’s third victim, smartly caught on the boundary by Mohammed Siraj.

Former New Zealand star Corey Anderson (15) was the sixth man out with the score on 96 thanks to a running catch by wicket-keeper Pant off Pandya who completed a wicket-maiden.

With the Americans looking to push the total into three figures, Arshdeep had Harmeet Singh caught behind for 10.

Shadley van Schalkwyk (11) and Jasdeep Singh (two) ensured the United States posted what they hoped would have been a defendable total.

Both teams went into the game with a perfect four points from two wins with the USA having stunned Pakistan in a famous Super Over triumph last time out.

India join Australia and South Africa as the three teams to have so far booked their places in the next stage.

Scoreboards

USA vs India

USA:

S. Jahangir lbw b Arshdeep 0

S. Taylor b Patel 24

A. Gous c Pandya b Arshdeep 2

A. Jones c Siraj b Pandya 11

N. Kumar c Siraj b Arshdeep 27

C. Anderson c Pant b Pandya 15

H. Singh c Pant b Arshdeep 10

S. van Schalkwyk not out 11

J. Singh run out 2

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-7) 8

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs) 110

DID NOT BAT: S. Netravalkar, A. Khan

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Jahangir), 2-3 (Gous), 3-25 (Jones), 4-56 (Taylor), 5-81 (Kumar), 6-96 (Anderson), 7-98 (H. Singh), 8-110 (J. Singh)

BOWLING: Arshdeep 4-0-9-4 (1w), Siraj 4-0-25-0, Bumrah 4-0-25-0 (1w), Pandya 4-1-14-2, Dube 1-0-11-0, Patel 3-0-25-1 (1w)

INDIA:

R. Sharma c H. Singh b Netravalkar 3

V. Kohli c Gous b Netravalkar 0

R. Pant b Khan 18

S. Yadav not out 50

S. Dube not out 31

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1, W-2, PEN-5) 9

TOTAL (for three wickets, 18.2 overs) 111

DID NOT BAT: H. Pandya, R. Jadeja, A. Patel, A. Singh, J. Bumrah, M. Siraj

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Kohli), 2-15 (Sharma), 3-44 (Pant)

BOWLING: Netravalkar 4-0-18-2, Khan 3.2-0-21-1 (1w), J. Singh 4-0-24-0 (1nb), van Schalkwyk 4-0-25-0, Anderson 3-0-17-0 (1w)

RESULT: India won by seven wickets.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2024