In a dominant display of bowling and calculated batting, India secured their place in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a comfortable win over the hosts USA at New York’s Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, June 12.

This victory makes them the first team to advance from Group A.

Arshdeep Singh stars with the ball

Opting to bowl first, India justified Rohit Sharma’s decision thanks to a stellar performance by young pacer Arshdeep Singh.

The left-armer ripped through the American batting line-up, taking a match-winning 4-9 haul. He was ably supported by Hardik Pandya’s disciplined spell, restricting the USA to a modest total of 110/8 on a pitch that continued to be a batting challenge.

Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube steer India to victory

Chasing a seemingly manageable target, India faced an early wobble as the USA bowlers struck early wickets.

However, the experienced Suryakumar Yadav (50 not out off 49) showed admirable composure. He anchored the chase with a well-paced half-century, finding a crucial partner in Shivam Dube (31 not out off 35). The duo stitched together an unbeaten 67-run stand off just 65 deliveries, guiding India to victory with 10 balls to spare.

Why five-run penalty was imposed on USA?

A significant turning point in the match was the five-run penalty awarded to India.

The USA team violated the ‘stop clock’ rule, which penalizes teams for exceeding the one-minute interval between overs for the third time.

According to the rules, for every breach after the second warning, five runs would be docked against the bowling side. This penalty was implemented in international white-ball cricket last December.

With the target reduced by five runs, India needed a more manageable six runs per over in the final five overs.