With a convincing 50-run victory, the USA maintained their dominance over longtime rivals Canada for the second consecutive game.
Canada elected to bat first again, mirroring their decision from the previous game’s toss, however the move had no effect on the result. With a refined knock of 70 off 84 deliveries adorned with 11 boundaries, Smit Patel continued to be among the runs in what appeared to be an echo to his innings against Canada last week. Following the Netherlands’ complete lower order capitulation, the USA middle order took charge as Aaron Jones’s easy fifty-six and Milind Kumar’s quick forty-seven off 33 carried the team to the relative safety of 275, a growing score at associate level.
The left-arm spin of Nosthush Kenjige was introduced by USA captain Monank Patel in the first over itself, as Canada’s quick bowlers labored hard in the batting powerplay without taking a wicket. Kenjige threw back danger guy Aaron Johnson after pinning him in front for ten, so the maneuver paid off handsomely.
After demonstrating discipline with the new ball, Jasdeep Singh was rewarded three overs later when a faint inside edge rattled Dilpreet Bajwa’s stumps. Shadley Van Schalkwyk, who received a lot of criticism for his batting during the devastating USA match against the Netherlands, quickly dismissed such ghosts. In just his second over of the match, the 36-year-old struck twice, sending Canada reeling at 44 for 4, while the USA saw the back of Canada captain Nicholas Kirton and Harsh Thaker in no time.
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In the twelfth over, Pargat Singh and Shreyas Movva attempted to salvage some of Canada’s losses. The partnership could only manage 23 runs in the next 8 overs as a result of the spate of wickets that forced them to proceed slowly. After the early devastation, Pargat had to regain his aggression, and he welcomed Kenjige back into the attack with two hard-hit boundaries through the offside. After being 6 off 35, Pargat’s acceleration roused Movva from his sleep as he sent Yasir Mohammad to the square leg barrier for length errors. Pargat persisted in his assault, forcing Mohammad to the sight screen and scoring a solid half-century off 63 deliveries with the following ball.
After the 106-run stand, Canada had renewed faith. After Pargat’s collapse, though, Canada’s 124 deliveries out of 95 deliveries seemed daunting. Movva scored his second half-century of the competition with a flurry of powerful strikes. Movva gave in to the strain of the asking rate, which was 10, when he skied one off Harmeet too long on, with minimal assistance from the other end. As the wheels came off the Canadian chase, Harmeet dispatched the heavy hitting Dilon Heyliger. Shadley returned to the attack and finished the match with 4 for 20 in 8 overs by cleaning up the tail.
The USA batsmen had set up the game fairly clinically earlier in the day, in a great team effort. A 125-run opening stand between openers Steven Taylor and Smit demoralized the Canadian attack. After a run of poor scores, Taylor played a cautious 46 off 77 deliveries, but Smit was clicking from the first ball. On the opening ball of his innings, he imperiously drove Heyliger to the fence off the backfoot. His off drives kept penetrating the field with accuracy, keeping the men on the offside occupied as they repeatedly recovered the ball from the boundary. He increased his boundary count to six at the end of the powerplay.
Smit maintained his pace and displayed his entire toolkit of moves in this way. He highlighted on skillful touches to further highlight his dexterity, even as he exploited the infield in the powerplay with some delicious drives. When an inside edge from Taylor’s bat floated to the keeper, Saad Bin Zafar eventually broke the prolonged stand. After Smit failed to convert a sweep attempt into a straight ball, Zafar returned on his subsequent over to completely destroy USA.
Aaron Jones played an out-of-character inning to get off to a fast start because Monank had not yet found his pace. In the next over, he dropped Thaker over cow corner after slamming Joshi for a powerful hit to the point boundary. Ultimately, as he attempted to turn inside out, Monank lost 26 to one, which turned hard into his stumps from the outer leg.
Milind resumed where he left off, having just finished his first-ever half-century on the international scene against the Netherlands. As Joshi appeared helpless and gave up 77 runs without taking a wicket in his ten overs, the two exploited him. Jones went off a few balls later, having now scored more fifty-score runs for the United States in the format with his 11th ODI half-century, overtaking captain Monank’s record.
Jones’s removal in the 44th over allowed Milind to flirt with yet another half-century before paying the price and going three runs short of the record with one shot too many. After a stunning batting collapse in the previous over, Milind was caught stealing in the penultimate over as the USA hitters took control and scored a robust first innings total.
Brief scores: USA 275/8 in 50 overs (Smit Patel 70, Aaron Jones 50; Saad Bin Zafar 3-30, Kaleem Sana 2-39) beat Canada 225 all out in 47 overs (Pargat Singh 72, Shreyas Movva 68; Shadley van Schalkwyk 4-20) by 50 runs
The post Smit Patel Hits Second ODI Fifty to Propel USA to 50-Run Win Over Canada appeared first on Cricket Country.
