Houston, TX, April 09, 2024: A complete first-innings batting display, helped the USA men’s cricket team post their highest ever T20 International (T20I) total of 230/3, enroute to taking a 2-0 lead over their arch-rivals and neighbour, Canada, in the on-going five-match bilateral series between the two nations. Canada were all out for 199 in 19.4 overs in response, here at the Praire View cricket ground, courtesy a 40-ball 74 by opener Aaron Johnson, the highest individual scorer of the game. The hosts won the game by a huge margin of 31-run.
USA had won the first T20I earlier and so far look a dominating opposition in this series.
A complete batting display
Back to back 50s by captain Monank Patel (68 off 35 balls) and Andries Gous (57 off 35) and a 25-ball 54 by opener Steven Taylor, ensured there was no respite for the Canadian bowling attack throughout the length of the USA innings.
Monank started from where he left off in the previous innings, racing to 22 off nine deliveries with his first five scoring shots being boundaries, including one maximum.
Taylor too joined in the carnage and the hosts raced to 81 after the first six overs with both the openers in theirs 40s. They hit a total of 14 fours and three sixes in the initial assault. The pair added 104 of 51 balls before Taylor was first to be dismissed.
Aaron Jones (34 not out off 20 balls) and Shadley Van Schalkwyk (13 not out off 5) then finished with a flourish adding 33 off the last 11-balls for an unbroken fourth wicket stand. This was after Gous had extended the woes of the Canadian bowlers with a calculated attack of his own.
The exceptional batting performance contained no less than 21 fours and a whopping 14-sixes.
Johnson’s innings in vain
In response, Canada lost the wicket of Srimantha Wijeyeratne early, but to their credit and thanks mainly to Aaron Johnson, stayed in the game almost right till the end.
The Jamaican origin Johnson’s attack saw Canada get to 65 after powerplay (first six overs) and then reach 100 at the half-way stage of the chase.
However, skipper Monank, rightly adjudged the man of the match for the game, then made some key bowling changes to thwart any hopes of a successful run-chase that the Canadians might have harboured.
He first brought back the experienced Saurabh Netrawalkar who dismissed Pargat Singh (27 off 26) to break a threatening 95-run second wicket stand. In the very next over, Nisarg Patel, the third-left arm spinner brought into the side in place of Gajanand Singh, was introduced and he got the big scalp of Johnson to effectively kill the game.
The Canadians did fight on gamely thanks mainly to a swashbuckling 9-ball 21 by Nicholas Kirton and a 17-ball 34 by Harsh Thaker, but it was always going to be out of reach and their innings folded just short of 200. Netrawalkar and Schalkwyk picked up two wickets each, but the pick of the USA bowlers was Harmeet Singh, who also picked up two wickets, but went for just 14 runs in the 2.4 overs that he bowled.
The teams go against each other again on Wednesday, April 10, in what will be back-to-back games. Canada will look to win to keep the series alive while the hosts will look to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead.
Squad of Team USA against Canada in the five match T20I series:
Monank Patel (captain), Aaron Jones (VC), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Gajanand Singh, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Usman Rafiq.
Reserve Players: Juanoy Drysdale, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Shayan Jahangir
All games are being broadcast LIVE on Willow TV and official USA Cricket YouTube Channel.
About USA Cricket:
USA Cricket is the National Federation for cricket in the United States as recognized by the International Cricket Council. USA Cricket’s mission is to govern, regulate, develop and promote all forms of cricket at all levels in the United States, and to enable U.S. cricketers to achieve sustained competitive excellence and successfully compete in national and international competition. Through a diverse Board of Directors that has representation from most cricket stakeholder groups, USA Cricket will lead the sport to new heights by creating and administering value added programs to grow and develop the sport.
