Irrespective of the outcome of today’s India vs England match, this T20 World Cup, hosted by USA and Caribbean, has been quite a ground-breaker with the first ever appearance of South Africa in a finals of a ICC tournament. As many as 20 teams participated in this grand tournament, with many exciting last-ball thrillers.
Highlights
USA Vs Pakistan – Nobody can rule out the decline of Pakistan team, but for them to lose out to USA in a super-over finish was disappointing even by their standards. USA moving onto the Super 8’s from league matches (beating Canda enroute) augurs great for themselves and associate members of world cricket as well.
Papau New Guinea Vs Uganda – One of the lesser know and followed matched between two relatively new comers provided us with a thriller with Uganda scrapping through, their first win on a world stage.
England Vs Oman – One of the shortest matches this World Cup, which England won in 19 balls, ran them through to super 8’s. In the process, they eliminated Scotland, which had nearly gone through to the next round breaking their hearts and souls.
Srilanka and New Zealand – With both these teams not at their best, they were still expected to move on to the next phase of the tournament. However, a Bangladesh and Afghanistan played better to pip them out, with AFG team bettering Bangladesh team to reach Semis.
India Vs Pakistan – Last but not least, our own cricketing behemoths clashed out in New York’s Long Island (Eisenhower Park) stadium to a packed audience, providing ample goosebump moments in a rain delayed match.
My friend’s and I were lucky to witness an interesting South Africa Vs Netherlands match in NY, with the Dutch running the Afrikaans pretty close. With quite a profitable New York stadium round of matches, there is a great possibility of international matches being held again in Long Island.
With cricket’s ever expanding reach (part of Los Angeles 2028 Olympics), I hope today’s match with the next one captures USA’s and World’s attention and help cricket grow to its full potential.
