India qualified for Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup after beating United States of America (USA) by 7 wickets. India has won all of their 3 matches played so far in the tournament. Batting first, USA were restricted to 110/8 by India. Arshdeep Singh was the top wicket taker with 4 wickets. He gave away just 9 runs in his 4 overs. Suryakumar Yadav was the top scorer for India with an unbeaten knock of 50. Shivam Dube scored 31 and remained not out.
USA became the first team to be penalised according to the new stop-clock regulations. India were given 5 runs. This was because of them taking too much time between overs. The regulation says, “If the bowling team is not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed, a five-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings.”
Arshdeep Singh, who was adjudicated the player of the match, said, “Very happy with the performance. Last two games I gave away too many but team has kept backing me. Wicket is helpful for pacers, we're getting seam movement so we had to hit the right lengths and let the pitch help out. Here, you can use the wicket more at the death. You can back your execution with yorkers, Bumrah told me as well, to surprise batters. You need to have routines before the game starts, trying to keep it single and follow through every day. All bowlers have done well, looking forward to the same in the next stage as well.”
Captain Rohit Sharma said, “We knew it was going to be a tough task, scoring that many. Credit to us for chasing it down. SKY and Dube did well in the end. Lot of the US guys, we've played together. Happy with their progress, saw them in MLC too. They're hard-working guys making a mark. We knew our bowlers had to take the lead as scoring is tough on this pitch. Arshdeep started off magnificently. We want options with us. As and when we feel like we could use them, we should be and that's what Dube allowed. Being in the Super Eight is a big relief. Playing here wasn't easy, could've been anyone's game. Had to stick till the end and take the game as deep as possible. SKY showed he's got a different game and that's what you expect from experienced players. Partnership with Dube was crucial.”
India will next play Canada on June 15.
