NEW DELHI: India secured a convincing seven-wicket victory over the USA in the
T20 World Cup
on Wednesday, with Indian fast bowler
Arshdeep Singh
playing a pivotal role in the win.
The 25-year-old, who claimed a four-wicket haul, attributed his and the team's success to the
pitch conditions
, which he noted were favourable for fast bowlers, offering significant seam movement.
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"In the last two games, I gave away a few more runs and was not happy with that. The team always shows belief in me and kept backing me, I had to deliver for them. The wicket is very conducive to fast bowlers and it's helping us get some seam movement," said the pacer.
His performance, along with a crucial 72-run partnership between
Suryakumar Yadav
and Shivam Dube, enabled India to continue their unbeaten streak in the tournament. The match took place at the Nassau County International
Cricket Stadium, where India's strategic decision to bowl first after winning the toss paid off.
Arshdeep Singh expressed satisfaction with his contribution to the match, adding, "The plan was simple, pitch it in the wicket and let the ball do the talking. Do not give easy balls to score, our batsmen are also facing difficulties to score runs. The plan was to hit the hard lengths. In conditions like this, you can use the wicket more."
Singh also highlighted the collective effort of the bowling unit and stressed the significance of maintaining routines and physical fitness in international cricket.
"When you are playing international cricket, you need to have some routines and the way you take care of your body counts. All the bowlers have done extremely well, looking forward to doing the same in the next leg as well," he explained.
India's strategy led to restricting the USA to a total of 110/8. Contributions from Nitish Kumar and Steven Taylor were notable for the USA, but India's bowlers, particularly Singh and
Hardik Pandya
, kept the scoring in check.
The chase saw India facing early setbacks with the loss of key wickets, including that of captain
Rohit Sharma
and
Virat Kohli
. However, a resilient partnership between Yadav and Dube guided India to a successful chase, with Yadav scoring a half-century.
Saurabh Netravalkar stood out among the USA bowlers, but the day belonged to Arshdeep Singh, who was named 'Player of the Match' for his outstanding bowling performance.
(Inputs from ANI)
English (US) ·