T20 World Cup: Upbeat USA edge past Nambia in Chennai
CHENNAI: Half-centuries by Monank Patel (52) and Sanjay Krishnamurthi (68 not out) helped USA beat Namibia by 31 runs in the ICC T20 World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Batting first, USA posted 199/4 before restricting Namibia to 168/6 despite the good start from Louren Steenkamp (58) and Jan Frylincyk (19). After the powerplay, they caved into the pressure as the asking rate went up. Earlier, Monank who was dropped on 0 off made good use of the opportunity to make a polished 52. He used his feet well and chose the right ball to attack. Monank and Shayan Jahangir set the tone with a 68-run opening stand in 41 balls. Patel also became the first US batter to notch 1000 runs in T20Is during his half-century.
Leg-spinner Willem Myburgh stalled the USA march by bagging the wickets of the openers. The in-form Saiteja Mukkamalla fell to Gerhard Erasmus, but soon the USA middle-order picked up steam. Krishnamurthi and Milind Kumar (28) combined well to raise 87 runs in 47 balls for the fourth wicket stand, setting up USA's big total.
In the chase, Namibia cruised to 57/1 in powerplay. Shadley van Schalkwyk who is the top wicket-taker in the World Cup so far, provided the breakthrough with a smart catch and bowled to dismiss Frylinck. When Steenkamp was in the middle, Namibia had hopes but USA kept pegging away with wickets to finish off the contest.
Monank said that the USA came prepared and it helped. "Yes, we do the homework for every team right now. We have done it for Namibia too. I thought winning that toss and batting first, we knew that the wickets were going to get better, so we wanted to make sure that we get a proper start and I thought the partnership between myself and Shayan was very crucial," said Monank Patel after his team's win.
''And later on, the way Sanjay finished off the innings, great to him, and we knew that 200 is a good score if we keep good pressure through our bowling. Sanjay is the same incredible talent which we have in our squad and the way he played today, I thought he was a bit under pressure. He couldn't capitalize in the last two innings and I thought the way he played today was great. Yes, he can hit the ball really far and the way he expressed himself today, I thought because of him, we were able to make 200 runs today. It feels like home. The crowd has been fantastic since the last two games. They've been very supportive and I feel like a lot of our players have been playing for the Texas Super Kings and because of that, we are getting that home support," added the USA skipper.
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus admitted that they were not at their best. "I thought it was a nice wicket. It turned out to be a really good scoring wicket. But we would have all liked to also bat first and put some pressure on the ball. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. I think that that's the way it goes. You can't really control tosses, but you just play the game. We know it's a contest, bat and ball, and their batters played exceptionally well at the front," said Erasmus.
Brief scores: USA 199 for 4 in 20 overs (Monank Patel 52, Sanjay Krishnamurthi 68 n.o; Willem Myburgh 2/22) bt Namibia 168/6 in 20 ovs (Louren Steenkamp 58; Shadley van Schalkwyk 2/30).