10 April, 2024
The U.S.A. took a 2-0 series lead in the five-match T20I series against Canada on Tuesday, winning by 31 runs in a run fest.
Put into bat by Canadian captain Saad Bin Zafar, the United States took advantage of some sloppy fielding and a pitch tailormade for batting to pile up a monstrous 230/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Canada had chances to make early inroads but didn’t take them, and the Americans took full advantage in making them pay.
Canada went hell for leather in the chase, led by Aaron Johnson’s 74 off 40, but the target proved too stiff in the end with the innings wrapping up at 199 all out in 19.4 overs. While the Americans got three half-centuries in quick time from their top three batters, Johnson was Canada’s lone half-centurion while Srimantha Wijeyeratne, Navneet Dhaliwal, Bin Zafar, and Parveen Kumar combined for just six runs.
“For our pace attack, it’s inexperience, they’re still learning,” Bin Zafar said after the match. “T20 is not an easy game, especially when you get a flat track, the pressure is always on the bowler. We did miss our lengths today but, overall, I think if we had taken a few chances we had early on – we didn’t really field well as a team – the result could have been different.”
The next match in Houston is on Wednesday, April 10th at 4.p.m. EST.
U.S. top order makes most of extra lives, batting paradise
After being put into bat, the U.S. would have been hoping for its top order to take charge and boy did they ever. The top four combined for 213 of the 230 runs piled up and facing all but five of the 120 balls bowled.
As chance after chance went begging in the early going for Canada, the U.S. played with more and more freedom and cashed in on anything either too short or too full.
Desperately in search of a wicket, Bin Zafar took a gamble bowling Nicholas Kirton in the final over of the first Powerplay and it unfortunately backfired. The result was a 22-run sixth over with Taylor absolutely teeing off. At 81/0 after six overs, Canada was way behind the 8-ball just half-an-hour into the match.
Making his T20I debut, Parveen Kumar provided a moment of respite for Canada by getting Taylor to hole out to Navneet Dhaliwal at long-off. By then, the American openers had added 104 for the first wicket in just 8.3 overs. Taylor finished with 54 off just 25 deliveries with seven fours and three massive sixes while Patel went on to score 68 off 35 with 10 fours and two sixes.
Sloppy fielding hurts Canada
Canada dropped a couple of catches and missed an early runout opportunity of American captain Monank Patel that cost the side dearly.
With the U.S. at 7/0 off 1.2 overs, Steven Taylor defended an Uday Bhagwan delivery from around the wicket right in front of him. Thinking there was an opportunity to sneak a single, Patel scurried down the wicket with Taylor showing no interest at all.
Bhagwan raced to the ball and collected it with Patel three-quarters of the pitch down, but missed the wicket at the non-striker’s end with the throw while Pargat Singh failed to collect cleanly backing up at the bowler’s end.
In the fourth over, Aaron Johnson dropped a straightforward chance at slip off the bowling of Harsh Thaker, giving Patel his second life of the innings at 22 off nine deliveries and the score reading 38/0 off 3.3 overs. Patel’s third life came in the very next over, slashing hard at a short and wide delivery from Bhagwan that Dhaliwal couldn’t snare despite a valiant dive to his left at short third man. Instead of a wicket, the scoreboard reflected a fourth consecutive boundary in the over to take U.S.A. to 59/0 off five overs.
For all the poor fielding, it should be noted that Bin Zafar took a great catch to dismiss Andries Gous off the bowling of Rishiv Joshi, running full speed beyond the inner circle from cover and diving full stretch to collect the catch inches off the ground.
Considering the dropped catches and the fact that 23 runs came off the final over of the innings, it’s quite conceivable that Canada could have restricted the U.S. to under 200 despite the favourable batting conditions.
Johnson gives Canucks hope with blitzkrieg
If Canada had any hope of overhauling U.S.A.’s massive 231, it was going to start with Aaron Johnson laying the platform.
Stating his intent with sixes off the second and third ball of the innings, Johnson pulverized anything in his zone and left camera persons and fielders searching for the ball well beyond the boundary.
The biggest of grounds can barely contain Johnson’s massive hitting, and this ground in Houston is far from a big ground. Johnson’s sparkling 74 off just 40 deliveries featured six fours and six sixes, and even another 10 deliveries faced by him could have proved decisive in Canada’s favour the way he was going.
Dared to play away from his body by left-arm orthodox bowler Nisarg Patel, Johnson hit a short wide ball straight down long-off’s throat to leave Canada within striking distance at 114/3 after 11.3 overs and needing 117 runs off 51 balls.
Kirton, Thaker fight the good fight
Once Johnson departed, it was Nicholas Kirton and Harsh Thaker who kept Canada in the hunt until the final couple of overs.
Kirton came in at No. 4 after Pargat Singh was dismissed for 27 off 26 attempting to go over deep extra cover for six but only managing to find Aaron Jones’ hands on the edge of the rope. Kirton blasted a pair of sixes along with a boundary to race to 20 off 8, but a ball from right-arm seamer Shadley van Schalkwyk angling away from the left-hander did him in with an edge to the keeper. Bin Zafar followed two balls later in similar fashion to end another pivotal over in U.S.A.’s favour.
Thaker came in determined from the get-go to make a match of it, and his rapidfire 34 off 17 carried Canada to just short of 200. Thaker is at his best when he keeps his shape, and there were a couple of gorgeous straight drives that highlighted his ability to score quickly while hitting the ball cleanly in orthodox fashion.
Test of Canada’s mettle ahead
Now trailing the series 2-0, Canada faces a do-or-die situation the rest of the way as any U.S. victory will seal the five-match series in its favour.
Captain Bin Zafar also disclosed after this match that he is dealing with a hand injury suffered while batting in the first fixture of this series and that’s something to be monitored. While some believed it may have contributed to not bowling in the first Powerplay to this point in the series, Bin Zafar disclosed it was more of a tactical decision.
“It’s matchups as well, we know a few of their players up top struggle against off-spin so that was my game plan,” Bin Zafar said.
Canada will have to get it all right from here on out to win the series.
