USA vice-captain Aaron Jones picked the bones out of Canada's bowling attack as the co-hosts hunted down 195 with 7 wickets to spare despite a shaky start to their run-chase against Canada at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. Jones finished unbeaten at 94 and shared a 131-run stand with Andries Gous to set things up for USA.
Canada put on a power-packed batting performance to set the co-hosts USA a daunting 195 to win in the tournament opener. Opener Navneet Dhaliwal and middle-order batter Nicholas Kirton hit half-centuries, while Shreyas Movva put on the finishing touches to propel Canada to 194-5 in 20 overs.
Co-hosts United States of America (USA) will kick off the 9th edition of the T20 World Cup by facing Canada on Sunday at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. USA captain Monak Patel has won the toss and has chosen to bowl first in Dallas, citing that they will have more clarity while chasing, given it's a fresh wicket.
Canada skipper Saad Bin Zafar stated that he doesn't mind batting first and understand that stakes will be high, given it's a World Cup fixture. It's worth noting that Canada have lost their last 4 matches against USA, which were played in Dallas. Nevertheless, they are likely to not be pushovers.
USA, on the other hand, will be riding high on confidence after securing their first series win against a full-member nation in Bangladesh. Their pace spearhead Ali Khan has also warned of more upsets in the showpiece event as they aim to impress as co-hosts. A day before, vice-captain Aaron Jones also promised of aggressive cricket.
USA and Canada playing XIs for the curtain raiser:
USA playing XI: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel(wk/c), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jasdeep Singh, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar.
Canada playing XI: Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Dilpreet Singh, Saad Bin Zafar(c), Nikhil Dutta, Dillon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Jeremy Gordon.
