Jones spares USA blushes as they beat Canada in T20 World Cup Opener

OSCAR RESS: Canada looked to be spoiling the USA party when they posted 194 before Aaron Jones smashed 94 to complete a record T20I chase for the hosts

Oscar Ress | 02/06/2024 at 05:04

Dallas: Canada 194-5, USA 197-3 - USA win by 7 wickets

USA got off to the perfect start in their home World Cup to survive a scare and beat Canada by seven wickets in Dallas.

Canada looked to be spoiling the USA party when they posted 194 before Aaron Jones smashed 94 off 40 to complete a record T20I chase for the hosts.

Contrasting fifties highlighted Canada's batting effort from Navneet Dhaliwal (61 off 43) and Nicholas Kirton (51 off 31), the former played second fiddle to his opening partner in the powerplay before taking control and hitting nine boundaries in his innings. The latter got off to a flying start, thanks largely to a rank full toss which he hit for six early in his innings before being pegged back by experienced death bowling from USA’s Corey Anderson after reaching an entertaining fifty.

Aaron Johnson's first ball boundary off Ali Khan set the tone and despite being pegged back by Harmeet Singh (1 for 27) and then two great overs from Anderson, they took 21 off the final over to set the hosts 194.

When Kaleem Sana removed USA opener, Steven Taylor, for a second ball duck, the target, which was a record chase for the host nation, looked even further away.

There was more swing on offer for the Canadian bowlers under the lights which helped pile the pressure onto the American batters and it told when Dillon Heyliger (1 for 19) removed the opposition captain Monank Patel for a run-a-ball 16.

The introduction of spin signalled a change in momentum as 19 came off Nikhil Dutta and 14 off Saad Bin Zafar in the next over to bring the hosts back into the game.

Jones smashed 10 sixes on the way to the fastest T20I half-century for the USA as he combined with Andries Gous (65 off 46) for a 100 partnership which was reached while the pair took 33 runs off the 14th over to put the chase back into the host's hands.

usa0206-min