 "India's Arshdeep Singh celebrates after dismissing USA's Harmeet Singh. AP")
Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube returned to form and forged a match-winning partnership after Arshdeep Singh registered his career-best performance as India defeated USA by seven wickets in New York to collect their third win on the trot in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
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As a result of the victory, the Men in Blue became the first team from Group A, comprising arch-rivals Pakistan as well as Canada and Ireland besides USA, to confirm their place the Super 8s. Their victory on Wednesday has ensured Rohit Sharma and Co do not fall out of the top two even if they lose their final group game, against Canada in Florida on Saturday.
Arshdeep led the way with a brilliant haul of 4/9 that earned him the Player of the Match award, striking twice in the very first over of the United States innings and helping India restrict the tournament co-hosts to 110/8 — normally a modest total in the T20 format but competitive on the unpredictable New York surface.
As It Happened | India vs USA, T20 World Cup Match 25 in New York
India, in reply, were off to the worst start possible with left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar — USA’s hero in their stunning victory over Pakistan in Dallas last week — getting rid of Virat Kohli (0) and Rohit (3) in successive overs. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant would attempt to mount a rescue in the company of Surya, adding 18 off 20 balls in a 29-run third-wicket stand before getting castled by Ali Khan.
SKY and all-rounder Dube not only weathered the storm early on and steadied the ship for the Men in Blue, they stuck around till the end to ensure India got over the line without much fuss and confirmed remained on top of Group A with a hat-trick of wins.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSurya remained unbeaten on 50 off 49 balls — completing a half-century of fifties in the T20 format — while Dube remained unbeaten on 31 off 35 balls, the Mumbai pair stitching an unbroken 72-run partnership that helped India chase the 111-run target down with nearly two overs to spare.
Netravalkar was the top performer for the Americans on Wednesday, finishing with superb figures of 2/18 from his quota of four overs while Nitish Kumar (27) and Steven Taylor (24) struck a couple of handy 20s to ensure US were able to cross the 100-mark in the end.
India face Canada in their final group match on Friday in Lauderhill, Florida, where they will be hoping to seal their top-of-the-table finish with a win. And even if they end up on the losing side, they can still finish at the top so long as Ireland defeat USA.
Brief scores:
USA 110/8 in 20 overs (Nitish Kumar 27, Steven Taylor 24; Arshdeep Singh 4/9) lost to India 111/3 in 18.2 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 50*, Shivam Dube 31*; Saurabh Netravalkar 2/18) by seven wickets.