India captain Rohit Sharma expressed his immense relief as his highly-regarded team advanced to the second round of the T20 World Cup with a convincing seven-wicket triumph over the United States.
With three wins out of three in Group A, India now joins Australia and South Africa in the Super Eights stage. After commencing their campaign with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Ireland, Rohit's men successfully defended a modest total of 119 runs to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan by six runs.
In their latest match, played at the challenging and low-scoring Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, India were tasked with chasing down a target of 111 runs set by the hosts.
Despite a shaky start at 15-2 and then 44-3, Suryakumar Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) formed an unbeaten partnership of 67 runs for the fourth wicket, securing victory with 10 balls remaining.
Reflecting on their performance, Rohit stated, "Reaching the Super Eights is a huge relief. All three games we played could have gone either way. It was crucial to stay focused until the end and take the game deep. Playing here was certainly not easy."
India's success in the match was not only due to the crucial contributions from Yadav and Dube, but also to the outstanding performance of left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who achieved a career-best 4-9 to limit the United States to 110 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
Rohit acknowledged the challenging nature of the task at hand, emphasizing the team's resilience in the face of early wickets. Despite his own modest contribution of three runs and the dismissal of Virat Kohli for a duck on the first ball, Rohit commended the USA team, recognizing familiar faces such as Mumbai-born bowler Saurabh Netravalkar.
Netravalkar, who previously represented India in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, showcased his skill by claiming the wickets of both Kohli and Rohit, concluding with figures of 2-18 from his four overs. Rohit expressed his satisfaction in witnessing the progress of the USA players, highlighting their dedication and success in the sport. He extended his best wishes to the hardworking individuals who are making a mark in cricket in the United States.
The United States remains in a strong position to advance to the Super Eights alongside India, despite their loss on Wednesday. With four points, they are ahead of Pakistan and Canada, who each have two points and one game left to play.
In their final pool match in Florida on Friday, the US will take on Ireland. A victory or even a draw will secure their spot in the next round.
Aaron Jones, who has taken on the captaincy in place of the injured Monank Patel, stated, "We still have one more match to go, so we will regroup and come back strong against Ireland after some team discussions."
