MUMBAI: Just as the fine-print of the India-USA trade deal was making all the noise outside the ground, a bunch of cricketers from the same region were making all the noise under the lights at the Wankhede Stadium.
The weekend crowd assembled to watch pyros from the most devastating batting line-up the world has seen in recent times, were greeted by surprise, surprise... and more surprise. The hosts' wickets fell like dominoes, something unthinkable against US. Runs seemed like a premium commodity.
First-ball ducks, two to be precise, against a team that is struggling with its cricketing pedigree is a rare sight. Four wickets in the powerplay with the scoreline reading 46 is rarer still for this side. Such had been the slide for India, that the presence of US ambassador to India in the stands sparked a new speculation (all in jest) — a treaty was signed on the cricketing field.
If not for India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, that speculation will have become a meme. Of course, there was a life for the skipper in that knock too. As the cool breeze from the Arabian sea swept across the stadium, the vociferous crowd finally started to find their voice towards the end of India innings. Nerves settled as India did what they do best — win by 29 runs. Mohammed Siraj, on his return to T20I cricket, scalped three wickets, as Arshdeep Singh (2/18) and Axar Patel (2/24) chipped in with two wickets each.
The world's cricketing order was restored with Suryakumar's unbeaten 49-ball 84. Call it curse of the associate nations, like on Saturday's first game when Netherlands failed to close the match against Pakistan in Colombo after being in a very good position, USA too frittered away the advantage run by run through some pretty ordinary bowling in the death.
The sight on the ground seemed dreary as at drinks, when India were 86/6 after 14 overs, coach Gautam Gambhir walked down to the ground to have a chat with the captain and Axar Patel, the last recognised batting pair of the co-hosts. The hosts were already in the dumps in their T20 World Cup opener by then and needed to put at least something healthy on the board.
Post that chat, Suryakumar made sure he held one end till the last ball and sailed the team to safety. In the next six overs, India scored 75 runs with the captain contributing the bulk of those to see the team reach 161/9. That total might look feeble against a big team but against USA it was competitive.
USA captain Monank Patel decided to bowl first. The logic being that knowing the target would be better on a good surface with some promised dew as well. Opener Abhishek Sharma has played a crucial role in India's ominous form of late and once again he was expected to give them a flying start along with Ishan Kishan, another in-form batter of the co-hosts.
However, he holed out in the deep cover as right-arm Pakistan-born pacer Ali Khan gave the team its first success. More than the bowling, it was the field placement that deserved praise as Patel stationed Sanjay Krishnamurthi at the position to cover Sharma's favourite back-foot punch. With Sharma gone for a duck, there was a deafening silence.
Former Mumbai player Saurabh Netravalkar, the hero of USA's famous win over Pakistan in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup, however, gave away 16 runs in the next over, third of the innings, easing out some pressure. Captain Patel then replaced Khan with Cape Town-born pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk as his team continued to exert pressure.
They almost succeeded when Khan, who replaced Netravalkar from the other end, induced a false shot from Ishan but Shubham Ranjane dropped the catch at backward point. However, the Jharkhand batter perished in the next over with Shadley picking his first victim. He then went on to pick two more wickets in the same over by sending back Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube as India were reduced to 46/4 after the powerplay.
Rinku Singh perished to Mohammad Mohsin after 26-run partnership with the captain. During the period, Ranjane dropped Suryakumar when he was on 10. The medium pacer, who had also represented Mumbai before moving to the USA, couldn't latch on to a return catch.
The wicket meant half of the India team was inside the dressing room inside 12 overs and with only 72 runs on the scoreboard. Pace bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya departed soon.
Brief scores: India 161/9 in 20 ovs (Suryakumar 84 n.o; van Schalkwyk 4/25 bt USA 132/8 in 20 ovs (S Ranjane 37; M Siraj 3/29).
