India and the USA, both undefeated, took on each other for the first time in New York. Nothing never seemed to go in favor of Team USA, as the first blow came in the form of injured captain Monank Patel.
In the absence of the skipper, Aaron Jones stepped up as the new captain and suffered a loss at the toss in the hands of Rohit, who put them to bat first on a seaming pitch. Indian pacers too stepped up early to their captain’s aid, as Arshdeep starred in picking early wickets in the powerplay.
USA’s in-form batter Aaron Jones fell to Hardik Pandya, and so did their most internationally experienced campaigner, Corey Anderson. Though India’s most trustworthy aid, Jasprit Bumrah, could not add anything to his tally of wickets, young speedgun Arshdeep took his role and broke the back of the USA batting order.
In a very low-scoring game, the USA could raise a small total of 110 in front of an expert Indian batting lineup. The former Indian turned American left-arm pacer Netravalkar struck early as he removed the two greats of the game, Rohit and Virat, in his first 2-overs of the game. Even India’s reliable batter in these tough conditions, Pant, fell to USA pacer Ali-Khan, and India sank further into trouble.
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Thousands of fans cheered endlessly in support of some amazing cricket played by the underdogs. India still had their hopes upon Suryakumar Yadav, and he too stood tall alongside Dube and put on a 50+ run partnership to take India home in a low-scoring chase.
USA faced serious troubles with the latest rules of cricket, as the newcomers could not start an over within the next 60 seconds of the previous over on three occasions and were penalized by offering 5-free runs to India, under a stressed situation for either team. This sudden shift of momentum led to the drop of morale of the USA bowlers, and this seemed to upset several cricketing greats as this seemed a bit considerable under such difficult conditions.
Suryakumar scored an unbeaten run-a-ball 50, while Dube hit the winning runs and ended with a 31-run knock. Despite this loss, the USA still remains the favorite to qualify for the Super-8 stage, leaving behind Pakistan. Arshdeep and SKY star in one of the most unconventional yet thrilling victories in the history of the game.