Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten half-century and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh claimed a career-best 4-9 as India defeated the United States by seven wickets to reach the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage on Wednesday.
Chasing 111 to win the Group A clash, India were rattled at 15-2 and then 44-3 before Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) put on an undefeated fourth-wicket stand of 67 to secure a third win in three games for Rohit Sharma's team with 10 balls to spare.
The US, second in the table with four points after suffering their first loss in three matches, will also ensure qualification for the next round if they beat Ireland on Friday.
“We knew this was going to be a tough task,” said India captain Rohit Sharma. “We lost some wickets up front but we showed some maturity to take the game to the end.
“We played with a lot of these USA players and I am very happy to see their progress in cricket. They are going from strength to strength and I wish nothing but the best for them. They are hard working guys and they are marking their mark in the US.
“We knew our bowlers had to take the lead. Scoring runs is difficult on this surface but all the bowlers did their job, particularly Arshdeep. The way he started was magnificent.
“It is a big relief pto reach the Super 8s]. It could have been anyone's game in all three games we played. You have to stick to the end and take the game deep. Luckily for us we managed to pull three in all three games and we can take confidence from this.”
Put in to bat, the Americans struggled as Arshdeep dismissed Shayan Jahangir and Andries Gous in the first over while Aaron Jones succumbed to pressure when he edged Hardik Pandya (2-14) to third man.
With the hosts struggling at 25-3, Steven Taylor (24) fought back, hitting two sixes before he played on to an Axar Patel delivery that clipped the bails.
Nitish Kumar was the Americans' top-scorer with 27 but Arshdeep picked up his crucial wicket when Mohammed Siraj took a stunning catch near the boundary rope while jumping backwards.
Corey Anderson (15), Harmeet Singh (10) and Shadley van Schalkwyk (11 not out) did well towards the end to get the US to a competitive 110-8 on what has been a tough wicket for batters at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
India were then stunned by Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar who had superstar batsman Virat Kohli caught behind for a duck off the first ball he faced. Rohit was then caught by Harmeet Singh at mid-off, again off the bowling of the 32-year-old Netravalkar in the third over.
Rishabh Pant's 18-run cameo was ended when his stumps were uprooted by Ali Khan in the eighth over. However, Yadav went to his 18th international T20 half-century from 49 balls with two fours and a pair of sixes.
Left-hander Dube's knock came off 35 deliveries and featured a boundary and a six on the same notoriously tricky and slow pitch where India had made just 119 in a six-run win over Pakistan at the weekend.
“I would say we were 10-15 runs short on that pitch,” said USA captain Jones, whose team had inflicted one of the all-time great World Cup shocks when they defeated Pakistan last week. We knew that 125-130 would have been a tough total to chase but it goes that way sometimes.
“I'm pleased to bring the game as close as we did and of how the boys bowled with such good discipline. The crowd has been brilliant, we've been waiting for this for the past couple of years so we are always going to make the most of it.
“We've still got a game to play, so we'll regroup and come back hard against Ireland after some discussions.
“The pitch suited our seamers, and I felt that was the best option against their batting, especially Shivam Dube who is very good against spin. We are hopeful that Monank Patel will be back for the next game.”
