USA vs Canada: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup ;Both teams are playing their first World Twenty20, in a match that has plenty of sub-plots to see if the rain stays away in Dallas.
Match details
:United States vs. Canada: cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
Dallas, 7.30pm local
Big picture – USA start as favourites
In a way, it is fitting that cricket’s oldest international rivalry will begin its biggest ever World Cup with 20 teams. Long before Australia and England played Tests for the first time in 1877, the USA and Canada locked horns in a three-day game in 1844. Canada topped that match in New York by 23 runs.
One hundred and eighty years later, the same two teams will meet in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Dallas.
Coincidentally, this is the first T20 World Cup between the two teams. The United States qualified as co-hosts and Canada won the Americas qualifier. USA vs Canada: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
USA vs Canada: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
Saturday’s game will be the first T20 at the Grand Prairie Stadium. But there’s hardly any buzz in Dallas, which means the 7,000-seat capacity might not be there. Moreover, a thunderstorm could spoil it, as it did during the warm-up for both sides at this venue.
Despite this, the USA will be favorites on Saturday. Although they have played only seven T20s since the 2022 World T20 – all in the last two months – that was enough to show their pedigree. At home they first beat Canada 4-0 and Bangladesh 2-1.
Barring rain, former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, who now plays for the United States, would have been the fifth player to represent the two teams in the World Twenty20. Former India U-19 World Cup winner Harmeet Singh, once touted as the next Bishan Bedi, is expected to play a key role with bat and ball as well.
Left-arm pacer Kaleem Sana, Canada has got someone who once dismissed Babar Azam in a first-class game in Pakistan. They are joined by 37-year-old Jeremy Gordon, one of the fastest bowlers in allied cricket.
USA. vs Canada: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup
Among other sub-plots, Canada coach Pubudu Dasanayak was previously in the United States in the same role, and batting-all-rounder Nitish Kumar, who now plays for the United States, remained with Canada until 2019.
Corey Anderson made his T20 debut for the United States in April. He started with scores of 28 and 55, but at the same time, he looked a little rusty. He has scored 112.30 runs in the five T20Is he has played for USA so far.
He once held the record for the fastest ODI century. Can he turn back the clock to those days?
USA vs Canada: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
Originally from Jamaica, Aaron Johnson is a powerful opening batsman who likes to play no-look shots. The 33-year-old made his T20 debut for Canada in 2022. He has 5 fifties, two centuries and 48 sixes in the format.
Team news: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
USA has a solid top order with Steven Taylor, Monk Patel and Andries Gauss. Ali Khan and Sourav Netrawalkar will lead the pace unit. Harmit, their main spinner, can also provide late-order hitting.
USA (Probable XI): 1 Steven Taylor, 2 Monak Patel (capt, wk), 3 Andries Gauss, 4 Aaron Jones, 5 Nitish Kumar, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Harmeet Singh, 8 Shadley van Schalkwyk, 9 Jasdeep Singh, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Sourav Netravalkar
Canada will rely heavily on their bowlers. In addition to Gordon and Sana, they have Dillon Heiliger in the pace attack. Captains Saad Bin Zafar and Nikhil Dutt know how to keep the batsmen calm with their spin variations.
Canada (Probable XI): 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Ryan Pathan, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Pargat Singh, 6 Shreyas Movva (wicketkeeper), 7 Saad Bin Zafar (captain), 8 Nikhil Dutt, 9 Dylan Helliger, 10 Jeremy Gordon, 11 Kalim Sanaa
Pitch and terms: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
Only one of the four warm-up matches scheduled here saw some action. Batting first, Canada scored 183 runs for 7 wickets. In reply, Nepal were all out for 120 runs. 40% chance of rain on Saturday.
quote: Old rivalry renewed in cricket’s biggest T20 World Cup.
“I would say fearless cricket, positive cricket, smart cricket. I think that’s what we’re really and truly trying to do. We don’t want to regret anything. We want to leave everything on the park. And then, obviously, if we don’t come, then Okay, but we don’t want to regret anything.
“At national level we’re rivals because we’re from the same region. We tend to play against each other a lot. Most of the time it’s in the qualifiers where there’s a lot on the line, whether it’s ODI status or T20.
World Cup qualifiers but at the same time we’re North America. Many tournaments are played in the region, so there are many friendships between the two countries.
Canada captain Saad bin Zafar is the opponent of the two teams.