T20 World Cup 2024: Hat-Trick Heroes Push England to Semis

T20 World Cup 2024: Hat-Trick Heroes Push England to Semis

USA lost two players early but still achieved forty-eight runs, In the initial phase of the game.

England played a great game opposing the USA, just as they did against Oman before. They won by ten wickets at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday, 23rd June. Chris Jordan got three wickets in a row, and Adil Rashid bowled well, causing the USA squad to lose rapidly. England wanted to win fast to improvise their Net Run Rate, and Jos Butler assisted them do that by scoring eighty-three runs in just thirty-eight balls. The game concluded before ten overs.

When did the turning point favor the winners?

USA lost two players early but still achieved forty-eight runs, In the initial phase of the game. When the fielders spread out, Rashid bowled well, making it difficult for USA to score more runs. They couldn't recover from this. 

United States Of America:

The Initial Phase - 48/2 [RR:8.00, 4s/6s: 4/3] 

On a decent pitch that was sticky because of earlier rain, the USA started batting. But they lost a wicket in the first over when Andries Gous, who was in good form, got out to Reece Topley right after hitting a six. Nitish Kumar, who batted next, played some bold shots. Steven Taylor, his partner, also hit a few boundaries, but most of the excitement was from Nitish. In the sixth over, Taylor was out to Sam Curran, making the game even at the start.

Middle Phase - 43/3 [RR: 4.78, 4s/6s: 1/1]

During the middle part of the game, the USA struggled to score runs quickly because of Adil Rashid's clever bowling. He only gave away 13 runs in his four overs and bowled well. He also took important wickets, like Aaron Jones and Nitish Kumar, which put USA in a tough spot. Liam Livingstone also bowled tightly and got Milind Kumar out. The USA team caved in and was unable to handle the good bowling from the England team.

Final Phase - 24/5 [RR: 6.27, 4s/6s: 2/1]

In the USA cricket match, Corey Anderson and Harmeet Singh were crucial for finishing strong, but things didn't go as planned. Corey hit a big shot but got out soon after, leaving Harmeet to try his best. Harmeet managed to score a few boundaries and a six, but he couldn't do it all alone. He was out in the 18th over, and soon after that, Chris Jordan took the last four wickets, including three in a row (hat-trick). The USA were dismissed because they failed to score in all their 20 overs.

England: 

The Initial Phase - 60/0 [RR: 10.00, 4s/6s: 6/2]

England started their chase slowly, scoring just six runs in the initial two overs. But soon, Jos Butler started hitting the ball hard. In the third over, he hit a boundary and two huge sixes off Saurabh Netravalkar’s bowling. One of those sixes even landed on the roof of Kensington Oval! Phil Salt played a supporting role while Butler abruptly attacked the USA’s bowlers with his confident and stylish batting. By the conclusion of the powerplay, England had already achieved more than half of the runs necessary for victory.

Middle Phase - 117/0 in 9.4 overs

England didn't have to worry about boosting their score this time. They just needed to win the game quickly to qualify. Even if just for a while, Buttler wanted to be at the top of the group. To do this, England had to finish the game by the 10th over. Buttler made sure they did it with four balls left. He hit Harmeet Singh for five sixes in a row in the second over he bowled. Salt watched quietly as Buttler easily played with USA's bowlers to finish the game.

Score summary:

England scored 117 runs without losing any wickets in just 9.4 overs to beat USA, who managed 115 runs in 18.5 overs. Jos Buttler made 83 runs and Phil Salt contributed 25 runs for England.