High hopes bring higher disappointments. USA’s spirited campaign in the group stages earned them a whole host of new fans that flew to the Caribbean in anticipation of another shock victory for the underdogs. Their abject surrender with the bat notwithstanding, each of five sixers by Jos Buttler in as many deliveries against Harmeet Singh would’ve felt like a dagger in the USA fans’ hearts. With the writing on the wall after USA got bundled out for 115, it was quite clear England would be on the loose to jack up their NRR.
Just like the other night with Shai Hope, here again was a world class batter running away with the game with USA bowlers having no clue of their next move. USA have been ruthlessly obliterated twice in 36 hours, with the opposition making absolute lightwork of their paltry scores with about 10 overs to spare. In a way it was a rude awakening for the fans and the team alike of the quality that prevails at the top of the crop and the steadfast consistency that top flight international cricket demands.
“There’s probably a lot of areas that we need to improve on. We are still an Associate nation, growing, trying to get a bigger player pool. Making it through the Super 8s was obviously a historic occasion for the USA, but we did want to show that we were worthy of being in that Super 8 and I thought in the first game against South Africa we did a really good job” said Corey Anderson
“The last couple of games have just been not quite there, but that’s what happens in these Super 8 comps is the bigger boys start to really show up and they’re kind of hitting their stride right at the back end of this comp. The more we’ve played as well, the more footage they have on us, we’re a little bit unknown coming into the comp and that’s kind of part of cricket”
Anderson himself punched below his weight in the entire tournament. Metaphorically, the big strapping left hander failed to arrive at the World Cup. He was held back in the chase against Pakistan to the point where he never batted. Was a no show in the super over. Much was expected of Anderson after his exploits in the MLC last year, but failed to leave a decisive impact with the bat. Scraping through to a tally of 66 runs off 72 deliveries in all, he admitted to being ‘lacklustre’ with the bat during the tournament.
Apart from Andries Gous, who has emerged as one of the breakout stars for USA during the tournament and Steven Taylor’s brief cameo against South Africa, USA batters looked out of their element in the Super 8s. Taking Gous out of the equation, the top 6 meandered their way to their point of dismissals, collectively scoring 191 runs out of 206 deliveries in 3 innings. On the bowling front, barring Saurabh Netravalkar and Harmeet’s phenomenal spells against South Africa, the Super 8s provided little to write home about. USA lacked the zing in their bowling and at times showed lack of zeal in their body language when put under pressure.
While the USA have a solid core of players that were instrumental in bolstering them in the group games. The Super 8s did expose some obvious chinks in the armor for the USA moving forward. Modern day T20 demands a ruthless mindset for all the batters present in the top 6. Former Pakistan selector Muhammad Waseem Jnr. speaking on a television channel said how he tried to build a team by scouting those batsmen who had the gumption and the audacity to hit a six on their first ball of the innings. There is also a case for inducting a wrist spinner in their bowling mix. USA possess some quality finger spinners but a wrist spinner will add up being an attacking option in the middle overs. Which, Adil Rashid provided a magnificent exhibition of, with his spell of 2 for 13.
The silver lining of course was the belief that the fans showcased in the team. It is quite an attainment in a way. Those fans who could care less about taping their thumbs one extra time to check a USA scorecard while using their favourite cricket app endured the hassles of flying many miles to the Caribbean, now caring less about how deep their pockets would really burn following this motley crew.
