[ad_1]
Key events
1st over: South Africa 3-0 (de Kock 2, Hendricks 1) Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks open for South Africa. Saurabh Netrawalkar – one of the stars of the tournament so far – will start with the ball. His highly impressive form continues. Just three runs from the over as six balls land on a postage stamp outside off. The Proteas have been decidedly quiet in PowerPlay in this tournament. Another subtle start. Might as well give us some Lavigne to get the blood pumping.
Okay, it’s game time!
Gary Stableford is associated with the song. I’m not so sure, Gaz.
Can I make it more obvious…
The teams are on the field singing the anthems – The Star Spangled Banner really belted in Antigua.
Ramps are enjoying the tournament so far. Although he worries about how often they appear:
Teams:
This is the first game of the Super Eights*. In case you’re wondering – all teams will start from scratch again, their previous matches no longer relevant.
*I’ve been singing it to this tune for most of the day, of course, pulling out the old mouth-Rickenbacker for the intro.
Lots of good songs with eight in the title – Herman’s Hermits anyone?
I liked this explainer from our American colleagues:
Can the US go all the way?
Let’s not get greedy. They have done well to reach the Super 8s, where they will face South Africa (June 19), West Indies (June 21) and reigning champions England or Scotland (June 23). Still, there were other upheavals. Afghanistan crushed New Zealand and Canada defeated Ireland. Perhaps most importantly, a Super 8 appearance guarantees the US a spot in the next one T20 World Cupwhich will be held in Sri Lanka and India in 2026.
Who are these newly minted sports legends?
The USA is coached by former Australian player Stuart Lowe. USA star Saurabh Netrawalkar is a software engineer at Oracle. Netrawalkar, 32, bowled a ‘super over’ against Pakistan and took the wicket of Virat Kohli, India’s superstar with 269 million followers on Instagram, although India won the match. Netrawalkar was born in Mumbai and played for the India Under-19 team. Batter and vice-captain Aaron Jones, born in Queens and raised in Barbados, smashed 10 sixes in the win over Canada. (A six, or “dinger,” as Chuck would call it, is scored when a batter hits a fly ball over the line, similar to a home run.)
USA wins first in the toss and bowl
Sunny, hot and humid in Antigua. With what looks like a strong breeze on the ground, fluttering shirts, wig anxiety. Shaun Pollock is in the middle and says he doesn’t think it will be a high-scoring wicket (that’s the unused field number 5, for all you nerds out there).
USA won the toss and I will buy first. “We’ll use the extra spinner,” Aaron Jones says after correctly paying the coin. “I don’t think (the field) will be too different from Dallas.”
Aidan Markram admits he wasn’t quite sure what to do if he won the toss. “We’d be leaning towards bowling as well, but we’re not too worried about the result of the toss.”
I’ll post the teams in a second.
Preamble
James Wallace
In Pythagorean numerology, the number eight represents victory, prosperity and overcoming. You knew that of course. The USA Cricket Team apparently he did.
Hello and welcome to the OBO of the first match of the Super Eights in this T20 World Cup. Pakistan are on the plane home, even though this match has been timed by the ICC for the subcontinent’s best time. That tells you something – nobody really expected the USA to keep going, but they are and are one of the most exciting teams to watch in the tournament. Repelling Canada, holding their nerve against Pakistan and even causing a few wobbles in the mighty Indian batting line-up.
South Africa are their opponents today, the Proteas have won all their matches… but not without incident. Having played three of their four matches on the tricky New York wicket, they had a few scares along the way. Reduced to 12 for 4 chasing 104 against the Dutch, winning by just four runs against Bangladesh and even more squeaky – by one run – against Nepal.
The pitch in Antigua should be a bit more stroke-friendly, but it won’t be a road by any means. Let’s hope for a cracker to start the next phase of the tournament.
Play starts in just over half an hour – 10:30am local time/ 3:30am BST. If you get involved, don’t hesitate to write to me – onward Email or @Jimbo_Cricket.
[ad_2]
-
-
-
-
