Aaron Jones Leads Team USA to Historic Victory Over Canada in T20 World Cup Opener
Aaron Jones’ unbeaten 94 powers Team USA to a seven-wicket victory over Canada in the T20 World Cup opener, achieving their highest-ever run chase in a T20 international.
Aaron Jones Heroic Innings
Aaron Jones delivered an unbeaten 94 from 40 balls, showcasing an extraordinary display of power-hitting, to lead Team USA to a seven-wicket win over historic rival Canada in the opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup on Saturday.
Co-host the United States appeared under pressure when Canada posted 194-5 batting first and then lost a wicket on the second ball of its innings. This required the United States to achieve its highest-ever run chase in a T20 international to win the match, surpassing its previous best of 169.
Ultimately, Team USA reached its target with ease. There were 14 balls remaining when Jones secured the win with his 10th six.
Team USA seemed in a dire position when its captain Monank Patel was dismissed at 66-2 in the 7th over. At one point, the United States needed more than 12 runs an over to surpass Canada’s total. However, Jones, who had been out of form in recent matches and entered the game with a strike rate of 100, hit the fastest T20 half-century for the USA from 22 balls with six sixes at a strike rate of 227. He finished with a career-best score and a strike rate of 235.
At least two of Jones’s hits carried more than 100 meters (328 feet), enough to be home runs at Grand Prarie Stadium in its previous incarnation as a baseball stadium.
Jones turned the match with an excellent innings that put pressure back on Canada. This was evident when Jeremy Gordon bowled the 14th over, which included wides and no balls, extending to 11 balls and conceding 33 runs.
Jones formed a match-winning partnership for the third wicket with Andres Gous, putting on 131 runs. Gous scored 65 from 46 balls with seven fours and three sixes. The South Africa-born Gous was out just before the end, as chants of “USA, USA” echoed around the stadium.
Barbados Power
Born in Queens, New York, Jones grew up in Barbados in the West Indies, where he played top-level cricket. His previous best score in T20 internationals was 50 before Saturday when he hit the second-most sixes in a T20 World Cup innings.
“Obviously we know that Canada always come hard at us, it’s a big rivalry and I was just happy to get my team over the line tonight,” Jones said. “To be honest I always thought anything under 200 was chaseable. The pitch was good and the outfield was fast as well.
“We just back ourselves, played some good cricket and we came out on top.”
Patel, the USA captain, also felt confident in his team’s ability to chase down Canada’s total.
“Aaron has always had the game and he played fearless cricket today,” Patel said. “He was backing his shots and hitting clean. You don’t hit this sort of innings every day.”
Earlier, Navneet Dhaliwal and Nicholas Kirton hit the first half-centuries of the World Cup to give Canada what seemed like a defensible total.
India-born Dhaliwal scored 61 from 44 balls and gave Canada’s innings early impetus in a 43-run opening partnership with Aaron Johnson.
Barbados-born Kirton then carried the momentum through the middle and latter part of the innings, striking 51 from 31 balls to surpass his previous best score in T20 internationals of 37.
Johnson made 23 from 16 balls and Shreyas Movva 32 not out from 16. A cameo of 11 from five balls from Dilpreet Bajwa added a bright spot at the end.
“I thought 194 was a great total. I was quite confident at that time,” Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar said. “I think Navneet and Kirton played well for us.
“We started well, we took early wickets in the power play. But Jones and Gous, they batted exceptionally well and our bowlers had no answer to them.”
The match provided a perfect opening to the world tournament. The Grand Prairie Stadium was filled to its 7,000 capacity, showcasing an excellent example of T20 cricket, a game still unfamiliar to most Americans.
While cricket hasn’t established deep roots in the United States, it has a long history. The United States and Canada played the first ever international cricket match on the grounds of a private home near Broadway, Manhattan in 1844. Canada won the match, which was played over three days, by 23 runs.
T20 World Cup
The T20 World Cup will be contested by 20 teams, including global superpowers India, Australia, and England. The United States and Canada are both drawn in Group A with India, Ireland, and Pakistan.
Tournament co-host West Indies begins its campaign Sunday with a match against Papua New Guinea in Guyana, and Oman plays Namibia in Barbados.
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