T20 World Cup: Arshdeep, Surya steer India to win over USA, into Super 8

Arshdeep Singh kept running in his follow through with right arm raised, not bothering to look back at the umpire and lodge an appeal. So plumb in front was opener Shayan Jahangir, squarely beaten by a full delivery that swung into his pads.

It was the perfect way to start things off for India on Wednesday. The 25-year-old left-arm pacer maintained that intensity all through, claiming career-best figures of 4/9 to restrict United States to 110/8 and set up a seven-wicket victory at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York.

India’s effort with the bat suffered a few anxious moments, but an unbeaten fifty from Suryakumar Yadav, fortuitous to be dropped on 22, along with Shivam Dube (31*, 35b) got them over the line. This is India’s third victory on the trot in Group A and confirms their Super Eight berth.

Having set the tone off the first ball of the day, Arshdeep ended his first over with a wicket too. This time, Andries Gous was rushed into a pull off a delivery that bounced more than he anticipated. The ball took the leading edge of his bat and lobbed to Hardik Pandya at mid-off.

Sharing the new ball with Arshdeep was Mohammed Siraj. He too found some movement, routinely beating stand-in skipper Aaron Jones (Monank Patel was absent due to injury) with deliveries shaping away. It was only when Siraj pitched short that Jones pulled for six over fine-leg.

With the USA duo of Jones and Steven Taylor not getting loose balls, the former’s urge to break the shackles led to his downfall in the seventh over. Unlike the short ball he dispatched for six against Siraj, he wasn’t quite in control of the pull against Hardik and holed out to Arshdeep at fine leg.

With India firmly in control, Rohit Sharma decided to try out Dube’s medium-pace. Taylor struck the first six of the innings during his only over, taking toll of a half-tracker that deserved to be put away.

A couple of overs later, Taylor also muscled Axar Patel for six over long-off. Very next ball though, the left-arm spinner had his way by getting the burly left-hander to inside-edge the ball onto the stumps.

At 56/4, the hosts desperately needed a partnership. Having hit a boundary off the last ball to force a Super Over against Pakistan, Nitish Kumar again showed some spark with a knock of 27. He took a liking to Pandya in the 13th over. First, he backed away to the leg side and hit a length delivery towards the sightscreen for six. When Pandya took the pace off, Nitish picked it early and smashed the ball back past the bowler for four.

When Corey Anderson hit a six over midwicket off Axar in the next over, there was a sense that the Indian bowlers were under a little bit of pressure for the first time in the game. But India hit back soon enough thanks to their sharpness in the field. Nitish miscued a pull against Arshdeep for a well-judged catch by Siraj at deep square leg while Anderson’s attempted slog off Pandya needed Rishabh Pant to run towards square leg before getting under the ball and completing a diving catch.

Arshdeep capped off an excellent spell with his fourth wicket in his final over. Having pitched the ball up and looked for swing in his initial burst of two overs, he pulled his length back later. The short ball got the better of all-rounder Harmeet Singh too.

The chase was far from straightforward for India. In the pre-match meetings, USA’s plans for Virat Kohli would have revolved around getting their seamers to bowl outside off-stump and invite a loose push. Saurabh Netravalkar executed as desired, inducing Kohli’s outside edge to dismiss him for a duck. In Netravalkar’s next over, Rohit’s intended flick took a leading edge, carried to Harmeet at mid-off and reduced India to 10/2. That became 39/3 when Pant fell victim to a ball from pacer Ali Khan that kept low and slid underneath his bat.

At 47/3 in 10 overs, with 64 needed off 60 balls, India now needed a few boundaries to ease the nerves. But with the pitch continuing to play tricks, Yadav and Dube struggled for fluency.

The blow on his right thumb when a delivery from Netravalkar reared off a length may have affected Yadav. He would have departed had his former Mumbai teammate held onto a chance running back from short third man. The hole they were digging for themselves seemed to dawn on them post that spilled chance, for Yadav and Dube showed far more urgency thereafter. Helped by the addition of five runs to their total at the start of the 16th over to penalise USA for their slow over-rate – the hosts had taken more than a minute between overs three times – Yadav and Dube finished the job in the penultimate over.