Helped by a burly batsman from New Zealand and a former India junior, the US on Tuesday savored a confidence-boosting, five-wicket win over Bangladesh in a T20I World Cup warm-up, just more than a week from cohosting the tournament.
Batting all-rounder Corey Anderson, who played 13 Tests and more than 80 white-ball matches for New Zealand, clobbered an unbeaten 34 to help the US chase down Bangladesh’s 153-6 with three balls to spare in Prairie View, Texas.
Harmeet Singh, who played under-19 cricket for India, joined Anderson in a match-winning, 62-run partnership, finishing 33 not out after hammering three sixes.
It was only the US’ second win over a top-tier, ICC Full Member nation in T20s, coming two-and-a-half years after their first against Ireland in 2021.
Ranked 19th in T20 cricket, the Monank Patel-captained US have little chance of advancing beyond the group stage at the 20-nation World Cup cohosted with the West Indies.
However, the Bangladesh upset in the series-opener against the South Asians raises hopes the Americans would not be embarrassed in front of home fans.
“It’s a great feeling,” Singh said of the victory.
“Definitely Corey brings a lot of experience. He himself played a lot of big tournaments, big games. He knows how to finish games and how to stay calm under pressure, finish till the last ball... We all look up to him,” he said.
The US play fellow cricketing minnows Canada in Dallas on Saturday next week.
Matches against global titans Pakistan and India follow before the US play Ireland in their final match of the group phase.
Additional reporting by AFP
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