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ICC T20 WC 2024: USA thump Canada in a high voltage opener

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Ray Sportz News Desk: The co-hosts of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup USA started the tournament with a bang as they beat Canada by 7 wickets in a close encounter. While chasing the target USA’s Aaron Jones played a knock of 94 runs off just 40 balls that helped the co-hosts to win the game with 14 balls to spare.

Batting first, Canada posted 194 for five, but USA turned what could have been a tricky chase into a cruise, completing the task with as many as 14 balls to spare.

America’s very own Jones, who was born in Queens, a New York City borough, smashed 10 sixes and four boundaries to make a statement on behalf of the team full of expatriates.

While Jones was without an iota of doubt the star batter of the match, Andries Gous too made an impression with his 65 off 46 balls.

Gous hit seven fours and three sixes during his stay in the middle, after USA lost two wickets with just 42 runs on the board.

It was fitting that Jones finished the chase with a pair of sixes.

Asked to bat first, Canada were off to a decent start with the opening duo of Navneet Dhaliwal and Aaron Johnson (23) putting on 43 runs in just over five overs at the Grand Prairie Stadium.

Mumbai-born left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh effected the first breakthrough of the tournament proper when he dismissed Johnson in the sixth over.

Pargat Singh, another player Canadian player of Indian origin, fell cheaply for five runs when he was run out in the eighth over.

However, Dhaliwal found an able ally in Nicholas Kirton, who got his runs at a brisk pace while hitting three boundaries and two sixes.

Dhaliwal found the fence thrice and cleared it six times during his 66-run partnership with the left-handed Kirton.

After the others have failed, it took former New Zealand player Corey Anderson to break the partnership between Dhaliwal and Kirton as he had the former caught by Jessy Singh at the start of the 15th over.

The dismissal of Dhaliwal did not have any bearing on Canada’s game plan thanks to wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva’s enterprise. The right-handed batter blazed away to 32 off 16 balls, striking two sixes and as many fours during his cameo to lift Canada’s scoring rate.

Dilpreet Bajwa chipped in with a five-ball 11 after Kirton’s departure, as Canada posted a challenging total on the board.

The USA however, after a wobble initially, completed the task to open their account in their very first match in the World Cup.

The third-wicket stand between Jones and Gous produced 131 runs, laying the foundation of a fine victory on their home turf.

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Chris Gayle backs Virat ahead of the final

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Ray Sportz Web Desk: India and South Africa will face the T20 World Cup final on Saturday. Former West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle expressed his views on the two opponents in the press conference before the T20 World Cup final. Both teams entered the finals unbeaten. South Africa is looking for their maiden ICC trophy. On the other hand India is aiming to end their long ICC trophy drought.

According to Gayle, both the teams are very strong and equally deserve to win. He feels the World Cup final is going to be a high-scoring match. The batting and bowling of both the teams is very strong. So Chris Gayle thinks that the fight will not be easy for both team.

Virat Kohli is going through a bad-patch in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Chris Gayle, backing India’s star batsman, said, “Virat is a very big cricketer. We have seen Virat has played brilliantly in previous World Cups. He is going through a bad time now. It can happen to anyone.” The former Caribbean feels that a big cricketer like Virat will want to prove himself in the final.

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India’s squad for T20I series against Zimbabwe:

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Ꮪhubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.

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Rohit takes a dig at NY pitch

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Ray Sportz News Desk: The pitch controversy of the Nassau County has taken a new turn on Saturday, when India skipper Rohit Sharma said that he has no idea what to except from it in the upcoming T20 World Cup clash against arch rivals Pakistan. He feels that the curator is “confused” about the drop-in wickets being used here.

“New York is not our home ground. We have played two matches here but we don’t have much awareness about its nature. It behaves differently on different days, so even the curator is confused,” Rohit said on the eve of the game against Pakistan.

“So, you can imagine the kind of thinking we need to put in. We don’t know on which pitch we are playing (against Pakistan), so, whoever plays better cricket will win the match,” he added.

The slowness of the outfield, Rohit said, has compounded the worries.

“The outfield is slow. Some shots get lot of bounce on the field, and some others do not roll on the field. So running between the wickets is important. We need to play as per conditions,” he explained.

However, the skipper said such external factors can be neutralised by playing good cricket and his teammates often thrive in tough situations. The Indians will also be the more confident unit as Pakistan are coming off stunning loss to tournament debutants USA in their lung-opener.

“Playing good cricket holds the key, not opposition, not pitch. Yes, it’s tough but that’s why I would like to highlight the experience we have. The blows count for nothing,” said Rohit, referring to the hits he and Rishabh Pant took in their tournament-opener against Ireland due to the uneven bounce.

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