USA into T20 World Cup Super Eights after rain strikes again, Pakistan out
LAUDERHILL, United States (AFP) - The USA advanced to the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup on Friday when their match against Ireland was abandoned, an outcome which meant former champions Pakistan were eliminated.
Ground staff spent hours working to dry the wet outfield at Lauderhill but shortly after the umpires had inspected conditions a huge downpour ended any hope with the field quickly under water once again. The USA reach the last eight in their debut appearance in the T20 World Cup largely thanks to their shock win over 2009 champions Pakistan. A USA defeat to Ireland would have handed Pakistan the chance to leapfrog into the top two when they face Ireland at the same venue on Sunday.
Instead, the early exit is a bitter disappointment for Pakistan, who were beaten finalists in the tournament two years ago. This is the earliest Pakistan have exited T20 World Cup, having played just three games with a defeat to India and their sole victory coming against Canada.
Pakistan were knocked out in the group stage in 2014 and 2016, but on every other occasion made it to the last four of the tournament. Fans who had waited patiently inside the Central Broward Stadium were instructed to stay in the facility and in shelter due to thunder and lightning which accompanied the torrential rain.
The two teams will receive a point each meaning the USA will progress to the Super Eights along with Group A winners India who are due to play Canada on Saturday in what is now a dead rubber. South Florida has suffered heavy rain and flooding and the game on Tuesday at Lauderhill between Sri Lanka and Nepal was also abandoned. There were heavy showers earlier on Friday morning which added to the workload which all proved to be in vain. But while it was not the way they wanted to qualify, the USA team celebrated in their locker-room what is a historic achievement for the associate nation.
"As a cricketer, you don't want to leave home and not play cricket, you want to play but at the end of the day there was nothing that we could control," said USA vice-captain Aaron Jones, who was again stand-in skipper in the absence of the injured Monank Patel. "Definitely we celebrated. Everybody is happy right now, obviously qualifying for the Super Eights is a big deal," added Jones, who has been the stand-out batter for the USA team. Jones was vocal before the tournament in insisting the USA were not just happy to be involved but believed they could win games and he said that attitude would continue against the tougher opponents that await.
"I think that on any given day, once we play proper cricket that we can beat any team in the world," said the New York born Jones, who grew up in Barbados and will return to the Caribbean for the next round of games. The spot in the last eight also means that the USA have qualified automatically for the 2026 World Cup.
South Africa defeat Nepal by one run
South Africa survived a major scare from Nepal in scrambling a nerve-jangling one-run victory in their final Group D match of the T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent. Needing eight runs off the final over in pursuit of a modest target of 116 for a stunning upset win, the Nepalese fell agonisingly short at 114 for seven with Gulshan Jha run out off the final ball as he attempted a single off Ottneil Baartman to force a super over.
After leg-break bowler Kushal Bhurtel (4 for 19) and off-spinner Dipendra Singh Airee (3 for 21) limited the Proteas to 115 for seven batting first, Aasif Sheikh (42) and Anil Sah (27) featured in a 50-run third-wicket partnership which pulled the Nepalese within touching distance of a result which would have kept their hopes alive of getting to the Super Eight phase of the tournament.
Dropped on one to a caught-and-bowled chance by pacer Kagiso Rabada in just the second over of the innings, opening batsman Sheikh saw off the first threat of Tabraiz Shamsi only for the left-arm wrist-spinner to return for a final over in the 18th over of the innings to claim both Sah and Sheikh in finishing with the excellent figures of four for 19. Anrich Nortje then bowled Kushal Malla in the 19th over to tilt the balance South Africa's way and they just managed to hang on for the win amid unbearable tension.
Sandeep Lamichhane, denied a visa to enter the United States which kept him out of the first two matches, went wicketless through four overs of South Africa’s innings but his mere presence seemed to lift his teammates after their captain, Rohit Paudel, won an important toss and put the Proteas in. Already assured of a place in the Super Eight phase of the tournament and fully expecting to close out the group campaign with a fourth win in as many matches, none of the South African top-order were able to get on top of the bowling, although opener Reeza Hendricks managed to give the innings some sort of stability with a topscore of 43 off 49 balls (five fours, one six).
Nepal's bowlers were in their element throughout the innings with only a late effort by Tristan Stubbs (27 not out off 18 balls) causing them some concern before Bhurtel closed off the innings with the wickets of Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada off successive balls.
Eliminated New Zealand thrash Uganda
New Zealand thrashed Uganda by nine wickets in a T20 World Cup Group C clash of already-eliminated teams in Trinidad. New Zealand, whose exit from the tournament was confirmed by Afghanistan's win over Papua New Guinea on Thursday, cruised to an easy win after restricting Uganda to a paltry 40 all out off 18.4 overs, with Tim Southee taking three wickets for four runs and Trent Boult 2-7.
The Black Caps then raced to their victory target in just 5.2 overs for the loss of only one wicket. Devon Conway top-scored for the New Zealanders with an unbeaten 22 while Finn Allen went for nine runs. New Zealand's run chase was assisted by a wayward bowling performance from Uganda, who sent down six wides and a no-ball. Player of the match Southee admitted the emphatic win was little consolation for New Zealand's early exit from the tournament.
