To win, the United States had to set a record. In T20 cricket, the highest run chase victory for the United States was previously 169. To set a new record, Monank Patel’s team chose the very first match of the T20 World Cup. It was a milestone for both themselves and the tournament.
In Dallas, the United States surpassed Canada’s score of 194 runs for 5 wickets with 14 balls and 7 wickets remaining. This also set a record for the highest run chase in the T20 World Cup among associate countries.
The main hero of the day for the United States setting a new record was Aaron Jones. Batting at number four, Jones scored a fifty in just 22 balls, which is the fastest fifty in T20 cricket for the United States. His innings primarily changed the entire complexion of the match.
Jones played an unbeaten innings of 94 runs off 40 balls with 10 sixes. He was aptly supported by Andres Gous, who batted at number three. Gous, who scored 25 runs in the first 25 balls of the innings, reached his fifty in 39 balls.
These two formed an incredible partnership of 131 runs in 58 balls. This partnership scored at a rate of 14.29 runs per over, the fastest rate for a century partnership in the T20 World Cup. Gous was out after scoring 65 runs off 46 balls.
Yet, Canada had made a fantastic start with the ball. In the first 7 overs, they restricted the United States to just 45 runs and took 2 wickets. That meant the United States needed 150 runs in the last 13 overs.
After the Canadian captain Saad Bin Zafar gave away 3 runs in the eighth over, the equation stood at 147 runs needed from 12 overs. The United States nearly matched this seemingly impossible equation and reached the victory target with 14 balls to spare and only 3 wickets lost. Canada’s bowlers’ extra runs given and fielders’ failures also ‘contributed’ to this.
Like their bowling, Canada also had a great start with the bat. Losing the toss in Dallas and batting first, they got off to a great start. Openers Aaron Johnson and Navneet Dhaliwal put together a partnership of 43 runs in 32 balls. Johnson was out for 23 runs off 16 balls, but Dhaliwal scored the tournament’s first fifty.
Dhaliwal, who reached his fifty in 36 balls, formed a partnership of 62 runs in 37 balls with Nicholas Kirton, who came in at number four. Dhaliwal was out for 61 runs off 44 balls to the United States all-rounder Corey Anderson.
However, Kirton continued to add runs, reaching his fifty in 28 balls. Towards the end, Shreyas Movar’s innings of 32 runs off 16 balls took Canada to a total of 194 runs. For the United States, spinner Harmeet Singh took 1 wicket for 27 runs in 4 overs.
The team playing in the T20 World Cup for the first time broke the Netherlands’ record in their very first match. Their score of 194 runs was the highest in the T20 World Cup among associate countries.
The previous highest was 193 runs for 4 wickets by the Netherlands in the 2014 World Cup. However, in the end, the United States broke Canada’s record and won the match.
