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ICC Men's T20 WC'24: England Beats USA, Reaches Semis with 10-Wicket Win
Jos Buttler, leading England, hammered an unbeaten 83 off just 38 balls, guiding his team to a decisive 10-wicket victory over the USA in the Super Eight match. This win ensured England's place in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. In pursuit of a modest target of 116 runs, Buttler and Phil Salt took a couple of overs to adapt to the conditions before showcasing their full batting prowess.
In the third over, Buttler signaled his aggressive intent by smashing two massive sixes off Saurabh Netravalkar. He continued to dominate during the powerplay, propelling England to 60 runs with his powerful stroke play. Approaching his half-century, Buttler escalated his assault, hitting five consecutive sixes off Harmeet Singh in the ninth over, propelling England past the 100-run mark.
Buttler struck a boundary off Shadley van Schalkwyk's second over to take the defending champions over the line in just 9.4 overs. He remained unbeaten on 83* studded with seven sixes and six fours while Salt scored 25 not out. Earlier, Chris Jordan clinched a hat-trick to all out the USA for 115.
Jordan, who replaced Mark Wood in the playing 11, became the first England player to take a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup match. He became the second bowler after Pat Cummins to bag a hat-trick in the ongoing tournament. Cummins bagged two consecutive hat-tricks for Australia in this edition of the T20 World Cup. Invited to bat first, the USA had a torrid start of the innings with Reece Topley making an inroad in the first over by removing dangerous Andries Gous (8).
Steven Taylor and Nitish Kumar tried to make the most of the powerplay with a 34-run stand for the second wicket before Sam Curran gave the second breakthrough to the USA in the sixth over. Taylor departed after scoring 12 off 13 balls. USA were 48/2 after the end of the powerplay. US skipper Aaron Jones joined Nitish in the middle but the duo failed to put up a big partnership as Adil Rashid clean bowled the former for 10 runs in the ninth over.
Nitish was also dismissed by Adil Rashid in the 11th over after contributing 30 runs. Cory Anderson provided some relief for the team by forging two important partnerships during the middle overs. He first added 21 runs with Milind Kumar (4) and then 27 runs with Harmeet Singh (21). However, Liam Livingstone ended the partnership by dismissing Milind in the 14th over. Curran then broke the sixth-wicket stand by dismissing Harmeet in the 17th over, effectively dismantling USA's batting lineup.
In the 18th over, Jordan showcased his prowess by dismissing Anderson for 29 runs and then completed a hat-trick by removing Ali Khan (0), Nosthush Kenjige (0), and Saurabh Netravalkar (0) on consecutive deliveries. The USA lost their final five wickets without adding any further runs to their total, concluding at 115/10 in 18.5 overs. Jordan led England's bowling effort with four wickets, while Curran and Rashid each contributed with two scalps apiece.
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