T20 World Cup 2024’s co-hosts USA on Sunday marched to a convincing victory over Canada at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. Chasing 195, USA reached the target easily with 14 balls to spare. USA batters Andries Gous and Aaron Jones stitched a partnership of 131 runs to ensure the hosts had an easy win the tournament opener.
How T20 World Cup opener unfolded
USA won the toss and put Canada in to bat first in the T20 World Cup 2024 opener. The Canadian batters had a good outing, with opener Navneet Dhaliwal and middle-order batter Nicolas Kirton both scoring half-centuries for their team. Wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva also contributed with a quickfire 32 off 16 balls as Canada reached a decent total of 194 runs.
Andries Gous and Aaron Jones proves too hot to handle for Canada
Chasing 195, USA’s openers got off to a slow start. It looked like the game would go down to the wire when Canada got it’s second wicket in the 7th over for 42 runs. But Aaron Jones and Andries Gous had other plans. The duo started taking the game to the opposition with their ultra-aggressive approach. The highlight of the partnership was Jones and Gous hitting pacer Jeremy Gordon for 33 runs in an over.
More News
They both scored half-centuries as Canada could see the game slipping away from their fingers. When Andries Gous got out, the score read 173/3 in 15.4 overs. Gous 65 of 46 balls with the help of seven 4s and three 6s.
Aaron on the other hand turned out to be the one with more straight-forward approach. He had a positive mindset right from the start, looking to hit almost every ball out of the park. His unbeaten 94 off 40 balls consisted of ten 6s and four 4s. Courtesy of the partnership, USA reached the target with 14 balls to spare.
