The US, on the other hand, had an outside chance of beating the host country in the opening match. But it didn’t work out. There were some glimmers of hope in their chase as Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krushnamurthy built a 58-run partnership. In the 16th over of their innings, with a well-placed Krushnamurthy at the crease, it looked like the US would come close to the target, but Axar Patel showed his brilliance and delivered a decisive moment, disrupting the US chase just when they hoped to build momentum.
On the second ball of the 16th over, Axar drove one onto middle stump and tempted Krishnamurthi into the slog sweep. The American batsman failed to get the height as he skied the ball high to deep mid-wicket where Rinku Singh completed a safe catch.
The very next delivery brought even more drama as Axar went full on the leg stump and Harmeet Singh, looking to clear the ropes with a slog sweep, flattened him. However, the ball went straight to Mohammed Siraj deep mid-wicket, who bent low and pocketed it.
Watch the clip here-
USA ultimately lost the match by 29 runs. Siraj replaced Harshit Rana in the World Cup side and took three wickets for India, while Axar and Arshdeep Singh took two each.
After a disappointing show from the batters, Indian bowlers swung into action to give them a much-needed win. They will now turn their focus to their next match against Namibia on February 12.
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