That’s it from New York in this tournament. It’s been a hurry, a bit of a mess but the low-scoring games have helped us reacquaint with a different genre of thrillers after the IPL. India are though. USA can make it as can Pakistan, but the weather is also a concern for the latter. For today, there is another game – a biggie from Group C – with West Indies taking on New Zealand. Hope to see you for that. I’m Ekanth, signing off for now on behalf of Andrew Miller (comms), Thilak Rama and Chandan Duorah (scoring).
Rohit Sharma, India captain: We knew it was going to be a tough task, scoring that many. Credit to us for chasing it down. SKY and Dube did well in the end. Lot of the US guys, we’ve played together. Happy with their progress, saw them in MLC too. They’re hard-working guys making a mark. We knew our bowlers had to take the lead as scoring is tough on this pitch. Arshdeep started off magnificently. We want options with us. As and when we feel like we could use them, we should be and that’s what Dube allowed. Being in the Super Eight is a big relief. Playing here wasn’t easy, could’ve been anyone’s game. Had to stick till the end and take the game as deep as possible. SKY showed he’s got a different game and that’s what you expect from experienced players. Partnership with Dube was crucial.
Aaron Jones, USA captain: 10-15 runs short. We know if we’d gotten 125-130 it’d have been a tough total. Boys were disciplined today, pleased that the game got close. Support definitely good. We’ve wanted fans, talked about it for a couple of years. We’ll come hard against Ireland for sure. (Not bowling spin) The wicket was tricky to face seam bowling. So, thought they were the best option. Monank is most likely to be fit for the next game, he just has a niggle.
Arshdeep Singh, POTM: Very happy with the performance. Last two games I gave away too many but team has kept backing me. Wicket is helpful for pacers, we’re getting seam movement so we had to hit the right lengths and let the pitch help out. Here, you can use the wicket more at the death. You can back your execution with yorkers, Bumrah told me as well, to surprise batters. You need to have routines before the game starts, trying to keep it single and follow through every day. All bowlers have done well, looking forward to the same in the next stage as well.
Sohum T: “So, a tedious escape for India. They will be happy to leave NY. If we have a full match on Saturday, maybe a run-fest.”
2:01pm: India have now qualified for the Super Eight stage. They’d be delighted to have middle-order bats scrap through to a win. They were pushed by Netravalkar’s early blows. SKY and Pant looked to rebuild. The latter was starting to look good but fell to a shooter. Dube joined SKY and both of them often struggled but took singles when they can and didn’t mind not connecting with the big shots, which they went for every now and again. The boundaries didn’t come by and the asking rate was nearing 8 RPO with last six-odd overs left. But a couple of boundaries brought it back. USA’s pacers kept them in but a penalty cost them with four overs to go, and SKY got a couple of boundaries that effectively sealed the game. Shoutouts to USA’s pacers, Ali Khan for using the pitch well, van Schalkwyk for his variations and Jasdeep for bowling heavy balls. Anderson, despite lacking pace, was disciplined.
