NEW DELHI: Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten half-century and Arshdeep Singh’s career-best bowling figures of 4-9 propelled India to a seven-wicket victory over the United States in their Group A encounter at the T20 World Cup on Wednesday, securing India’s spot in the Super Eights round.
India’s chase of the modest 111-run target faced early setbacks, finding themselves in trouble at 15-2 and then 44-3. However, Yadav (50*) and Shivam Dube (31*) steadied the innings with an unbroken 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket, guiding their team to victory with 10 balls to spare.
Despite the loss, the United States remains in a strong position to advance to the Super Eights alongside India, having accumulated four points, while Pakistan and Canada each have two points.
India’s top order struggled against Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar, who dismissed Virat Kohli for a golden duck and also accounted for Rohit Sharma’s wicket. Rishabh Pant’s brief 18-run innings ended when Ali Khan rattled his stumps.
Earlier, the United States had a disastrous start, losing two wickets to Arshdeep Singh in the first over, with the score reading 3-2. Captain Aaron Jones, who had scored an unbeaten 94 against Canada, managed only 11 runs before falling to Hardik Pandya. Steven Taylor (24) and Nitish Kumar (27) added 31 runs for the fourth wicket, but Kumar was brilliantly caught by Mohammed Siraj off Arshdeep’s bowling. Corey Anderson, the former New Zealand all-rounder, scored 15 before being caught by Pant off Pandya, who completed a wicket-maiden. Contributions from Shadley van Schalkwyk (11) and Jasdeep Singh (2) helped the United States cross the 100-run mark.
India now joins Australia and South Africa as the three teams that have secured their places in the next stage of the tournament.
