Living up to the billing of how the first group match between USA and Canada went to the super-over in the ongoing ICC World T20 Americas “A” qualifiers, the 2nd meeting between the two neighbours didn’t disappoint anyone at all.
In a fitting finish to the tense thriller again produced as Raleigh Cricket Club ground in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA’s Steven Taylor did a “Carlos Brathwaite” over Canada as he smashed 22 runs in 5 balls in the final over of their chase to win the high-scoring humdinger and settle the score of the loss incurred few days back against Canada.
WATCH: Steven Taylor's walk-off 6 sparks wild celebrations as #TeamUSA win one of the greatest Twenty20 matches of all time! #WT20 #USAvCAN pic.twitter.com/NLoIWvGyHp
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) September 26, 2018
Canada did everything right on the night, first posting a commendable 173/8 in their 20 overs and then had USA by the scruff of their necks at 112/7 in the 16th over, only to see a brilliant one-handed display of power-hitting from Steven Taylor, who racked up an unbeaten knock of 96 runs from only 54 deliveries to not let Canada score a double over them on their home territory.
Taylor remembered the way the Super-over ended as he was on strike on the final delivery when they needed more than a boundary to win the 1st meeting between the two countries, and he made sure that he had the last laugh the 2nd time around.
3 days ago Canada hit a final ball 6 to tie the game and Canada went on to win the Super Over vs USA.
Today, needing 174 to win, #TeamUSA were 65 for 6 at one stage and then still needed 22 runs to win from the final over of the match.
But then Steven Taylor did this……….. pic.twitter.com/WWGuN9SbBd
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) September 26, 2018
USA and Canada have already qualified from the sub-regional, having 4 wins so far from their 5 matches, into the Americas regional finals in 2019 to join Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Both completed comprehensive wins over Belize and Panama so far in the group matches and only the final round of matches in the double round-robin format remain to be played now.
Panama, on the other hand, registered their first win of the tournament as they defeated Belize in the return match after losing against them in the 1st encounter.
Brief Scores:
Canada 173/8 in 20 overs (Hamza Tariq 31, Nikhil Dutta 31 n.o, Rizwan Cheema 27, Abraash Khan 19, Srimantha Wijeratne 19, Nostush Kenjige 3/44, Elmore Hutchinson 2/24, Roy Silva 1/25) lost to USA 174/8 in 19.5 overs (Steven Taylor 96 n.o, Jaskaran Malhotra 26, Timil Patel 17, Cecil Pervez 2/29, Nikhil Dutta 2/41, Nitish Kumar 1/26) by 2 wickets
Panama 128/6 in 20 overs (Soyeb Chohan 51 n.o, Sarfaraj Mulla 30, Dineshbhai Ahir 16, Kenroy Roca 2/16, Dirk Sutherland 1/11, Herbert Banner 1/27) beat Belize 119/9 in 20 overs (Aaron Muslar 28, Jonathan Benjamin 24, Leon Hyde 22, Kengarbhai Ahir 4/10, Irfan Hafejee 2/24, Ibrahim Vhora 2/24) by 9 runs
