USA need 195 to win T20 World Cup opener in Dallas

Monank Patel’s USA make their tournament debut in an enthralling clash against old rivals Canada, who are also playing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first-ever time.

Toss: USA won the toss and elected to bowl first

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 kicked off with a Group A clash between USA and Canada. Monank Patel won the toss and elected to bowl first. He believed that the wicket was fresh and his pacers could make the most of early movement.

Aaron Johnson smashed the very first ball of the tournament over extra cover, setting the tone for Canada's powerplay approach. His partner Navneet Dhaliwal got a four off his own in the very next over, but it was Johnson who took the charge for his side. He hit USA's Ali Khan for three boundaries in the third over and Canada were off to a flier.

It was Harmeet Singh who got the dangerous Johnson, when the right-hander tried to hit the slow left-arm spinner towards the cow corner but instead found Nitish Kumar in the deep. Pargat Singh's run out soon after gave the hosts another wicket.

Dhaliwal found good support in Nicholas Kirton and the duo set about reconstructing the Canadian innings. Dhaliwal brought up the first fifty of the tournament in the 12th over. Kirton got into the act soon after, hitting a six and a four against Shadley Van Schalkwyk to lift the run rate.

The experienced Corey Anderson got into the game thereafter, getting rid off Dhaliwal with his first delivery and then taking a sharp catch to dismiss the set Nicholas Kirton in the 18th over to give USA a boost. Six-filled cameos from Shreyas Movva (32* from 16) and Dilpreet Bajwa (11 from 5) then helped Canada take 35 off the final two overs.

USA: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel (c), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Jessy Singh, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar

Canada: Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Dilpreet Bajwa, Saad Bin Zafar (c), Nikhil Dutta, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Jeremy Gordon