Team USA lost to India in the T20 Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, five days after posting the biggest win in program history against Pakistan.
The match started quite hopelessly for Team USA, who had only two wickets in the first over. That’s almost a catastrophe, and all but guaranteed that the US would lose the game. But continuing to play hard was essential to maintain their net run rate, and that’s how tiebreaks are decided. Even though they wouldn’t win, Team USA had to keep scoring points (and later defending well) in case they tied.
The US recovered somewhat and managed to score 111 runs (a figure that seemed almost impossible after the first disastrous over), but it was nowhere near enough to provide India with a serious challenge.
With this win, India secured the top spot in the group and qualified for the Super 8 stage. Team USA and Pakistan are now fighting for the final qualifying spot, and things could get messy. The US needs to win Friday’s match against Ireland to progress as their net run-rate has now lagged behind Pakistan’s. If Pakistan beats Ireland but USA loses, leaving both teams tied at 2–2, Pakistan will advance based on their net run rate. Team USA’s NRR fell below that of Pakistan after their loss to India.
Ireland has traditionally been a strong cricketing nation, but things went into a skid during the T20 World Cup. They have lost both matches they have played, including one against Canada, a national team not on par with Ireland. They have no hope of progressing and are on the verge of leaving the World Cup without any wins.
At least that’s what Team USA is hoping for. Beating Ireland is the only way they will make history and progress to the Super 8 stage for the first time. If they win, it doesn’t matter what Pakistan does because they move on.
The US faces Ireland on Friday at 10:30 am ET.
