 "United States' Muhammad Ali-Khan, left, congratulates teammate Aaron Jones following the victory over Canada in the men's T20 World Cup cricket match. AP")
USA batter Aaron Jones was in seventh heaven after guiding his team to a historic win over Canada in the T20 World Cup 2024 opener on Sunday. In their T20 World Cup debut, co-hosts USA were asked to script their highest-ever chase to win but Player of the Match Jones made it possible with a blistering 94 not out off just 40 balls and smashed 10 sixes as the United States won by 7 wickets .
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USA scored 197/3 in reply to Canada’s first innings total of 194/5.
“I don’t think it is easy to put it into words. Happy to get my team over the line,” Jones told the broadcasters after helping USA create history. “I thought anything under 200 is chaseable. We wanted to play aggressive cricket. I think I go through my process while I practice. To be honest, when my team is under pressure it gets the best out of me.”
USA’s highest-ever run chase before the T20 World Cup match was 169.
On Sunday, they were in a spot of bother after captain Monank Patel was dismissed in the seventh over with USA reeling at 66/2. Andries Gous (65) and Jones, however, took control of the innings and stitched a partnership of 131 runs off just 55 balls to put USA in the driver’s seat.
Gous was dismissed in the 16th over but Jones continued the onslaught with Corey Anderson at the other end as USA completed the chase with 14 balls remaining.
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More ShortsUSA captain Patel praised Jones for his match-winning innings and added that his team will continue to play fearless cricket.
“We always we knew he (Aaron Jones) had the game. He played fearless cricket. Really happy to see the crowd in numbers, hope they continue to give us the support. We want to continue the way we play are playing (fearless cricket). We don’t want to change anything whether we play Pakistan or India,” he said.
Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar rued the no balls and extras (19) from his team but said that there’s “nothing to be sad” for his side.
“194 was a great total. I was pretty happy. We started well but Jones and Gous batted exceptionally well and our bowlers had no chance. Pitch had good bounce and it did get better for batting in the second innings with dew coming in. We missed the line and lengths. No balls and extras we shouldn’t have given away those. We played an exceptional game overall. Nothing to be sad. Good effort from the boys, this is just the start and hope we can do well in the next game.”