In an era where every year is an ICC event of some sort , the WT20 has now come to the North America this year in 2024. Format wise there are 4 groups of 20 teams, the most ever for a WT20. This includes pre tourney seeded teams who if advance will determine two Super 8 groups.Then the top 2 from each group play semis. Who would have thought that seedings would have helped decide one team’s matches all till the final !Yes, its the World t20 folks again from USA and West Indies as joint hosts. USA are playing only because they are hosting rather than qualifying formally.And Yes Economics dictates the motive behind seedings as its TV run era.

USA and Canada who played the first cricket international in 1844 in New York , kicked off the tourney with the highest scoring match to date in Dallas’s Grand Prairie stadium in a night game in Group A. Aaron Jones of barbadian descent led them to a fine win with his 94 off 40 balls. At Providence , Windies escaped an early embarrassment against Papua New Guinea with Roston Chase lietrally helping out with the ball and bat in the short win. Uganda, Afghanistan and New Zealand make up the rest of Group C. Uganda losing their opener by a huge margin to the Afghans scoring 58 only.

One of the early buzz for this tourney has been the new hybrid pitch made espcially for New York. The Adelaide made pitch curated in Florida and made especially for the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in Long Island has received a lot of stick.The venue itself was developed in 4 months. The two paced pitch and the poor sandy outfield right in the middle of what used to be Eisenhower Park ,is speculated to be the flagship US venue for marketing purpose. This PR move so far didn’t too much for cricketing credential. In a Group C opener, Sri Lanka were all out for 77 vs South Africa. Ireland made only 96 vs India. Both were easy wins for the chasing sides. Canada fared better in their win against Ireland managing 137 , a win of 12 runs.

This venue is also scheduled to host June 9 game between India and Pakistan the big money spinner for ICC.However, concerns have been raised about the pitch’s safety as notably by Andy Flower’s statement.It seems the hybrid pitch will take time to settle. The outfield might be another matter still. Both teams are in group A with hosts USA, Canada and Ireland.

Speaking of Pakistan, in group A , the 2009 champs and last tourney’s runner up had the worst start possible in Dallas. With a roasting hot 10.30 am start in the Texas heat, Pakistan succumbed to early wickets before posting a 159 which was considered a low total on that flat track. At one stage even 159 was looking unlikely. The hosts were cruising at one stage and even at 111/3 were poised to win in regulation.Then the nerves of the newcomer to cricket struck which led to a mini comeback. However Haris Rauf couldn’t defend 15 in the final over which gave us the second super over of this WT20. USA dominated that with Iftikhar and Shadab unable to chase 19 to win. Pakistani batting has always been fragile but their non existent middle order alongside lack of a quality spinner will become the achilles heel. The result sent the Pakistani diaspora into sheer chaos as can be expected. Pakistan ‘s preparation in the build up and the turmoil off the field for several months can only be described as “sheer buffoonery” that was evident at the CWC2023 as well. They are a shadow of the team they were as compared to the last two T20 cups.

The first super over of the tourney was between Oman and Namibia, a group B clash in Bridgetown. Another low encounter where both teams were tied at 109. David Wiese , the perennial T20 leaguer showed his all round experience defending the super over target at Bridgetown. Australia and England sqaure off in bridgetown clash in this group. Aussies began with some stutter but overpowered Oman behind Marcus Stoinis. The rains had plans for Scotland – England as the former stormed to 90/0 in 10 overs before the heavens opened and the match was abandoned.

In Group C ,Afghanistan is showing the rest of the Asian teams how to compete at this level. First they performed at CWC2023 where they finished 6th only due to run rate with wins against England, Pakistan Sri lanka and the Netherlands.Fazalhaq Farooqi has provided the two best spells in his first two games with 5/9 and 4/17 respectively.Afghans gave Kiwis a first match scare dismissing them for 75 after posting 159. Rehmanullah Gurbaz again led a century stand for the second match in the row and tops the early scoring charts, likewise Fazal heads the bowing with his 9 scalps.

Netherlands who caused a surprise beating South Africa in 2022 and 2023 cups led off with an easy win over Nepal at Dallas chasing 106. They are in group D and face South Africa in what is deemed as “Group of Death”. They clash in New York as well on June 8 hours before Aussies and the Poms in Bridgetown. The other teams being Sri Lanka and Bangladesh .At the same venue ,Bangladesh also started their campaign with a low scoring chase in which they scraped through win over Lanka chasing 125.Richad Hussain for Bangladesh started off his cup with a 3/22 start, part of instigating the Lankan collapse.

Its a small sample size to gauge from but Afghans have started well in WT20 . Their body language on the field is vastly different to yesteryears. India were clinIcal but the Irish are struggling. The defending champs England have yet to be tested. As far as the associates are concerned, USA and Canada have produced shock wins. With more matches on the weekend to spice up around the India – Pakistan encounter, New York and the World gets ready for more WT20 !

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