[ad_1]
Maybe a win against 2022 runners-up Pakistan in the group stage could encourage the team’s captain to do just that, boosting cricket’s profile in the United States.
“To be honest with you, a lot of people don’t really pay much attention to cricket in the United States,” Jones said.
“Maybe the whole world still doesn’t know how much talent we have here, but I believe one day, if we play decent cricket, we can definitely beat any team in the world.”
The United States qualified for the second round with wins over Canada and Pakistan in Group A, which also saw favourites India advance from the group.
The eight teams have been split into two groups, with defending champions England and co-hosts West Indies in the same group as the United States and South Africa, and the other group featuring unbeaten Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India, who finished either first or second in their groups in the original 20-team tournament.
The U.S. will face a tough opponent in South Africa, who won all four of their group matches, but will be encouraged by the fact that South Africa’s batting line-up struggled in their last two low-scoring matches against weaker opposition Bangladesh, which the Proteas won by four runs and by one against Nepal.
Despite the mystery surrounding a low-scoring drop-in pitch in New York and rainy weather in Florida, the United States won consecutive games against Canada and Pakistan in Dallas before shocking the cricket world with a difficult-wicket loss to India in New York.
The rain gods were also on the side of the United States, the tournament’s co-hosts, who picked up a valuable point in a rain-cancelled group game against Ireland to eliminate Pakistan from the tournament. It was the first time that the 2009 champions had failed to qualify for the playoffs in eight versions of the tournament.
The other Super Eight match will see England take on co-hosts West Indies in Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Wednesday. On Thursday, Afghanistan takes on India in Bridgetown, Barbados, and Australia take on Bangladesh in North Sound, Antigua, to complete the first round of the play-offs.
All Super Eight matches will be played in the West Indies, followed by the semi-finals and final. The month-long tournament will see its final match played at the century-old Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29.
It’s unlikely that there will be any Americans there, but don’t underestimate them.
Before Jones made headlines after scoring a staggering 95 in the opening match against Canada, along with 10 big sixes, not many people knew that America had a cricket team.
However, after the US team beat Pakistan in the Super Over in Dallas, the praise for the US team increased not only in the US but across the cricketing world.
“We’ve talked about going to the World Cup for a few years now and playing more games against full member countries,” Jones said.
“Obviously, it’s really exciting to be able to compete in the Super Eight, not just for us but for our fans all over the U.S. We’re really grateful to us and to the younger generation of fans in the U.S.”
[ad_2]
Source link