Aaron Jones knock guides US victory against Canada in T20 World Cup opener

With a stunning 94* from 40 balls from Aaron Jones, the United States registered a resounding seven-wicket victory in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup opener match against Canada in Dallas, Texas.

Chasing a target of 195 runs set by Canada, the US lost an early wicket of dangerous Steve Taylor for a duck courtesy of Canadian left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana.

Andries Gous joined skipper Monank Patel, and the duo tried to up the scoring rate with a flurry of boundaries. Canada, however, maintained discipline with the ball and soon struck again with Monank’s wicket.

The batter fell a run-a-ball 16 while trying to take on Dillon Heyliger. A 19-run over against Nikhil Dutta, featuring a six each for Andries Gous and Aaron Jones, helped pick the USA rate up.

USA’s vice-captain Aaron Jones played a belligerent knock of 94 runs in 40 balls, which included four fours and 10 maximums, as the hosts chased a 195-run target in only 17.4 overs.

Earlier, the co-host USA had put Canada to bat first after winning the toss. The latter had posted 194 with the loss of five wickets.

Dhaliwal found good support in Nicholas Kirton and the duo set about reconstructing the Canadian innings. Dhaliwal brought up the first fifty of the tournament in the 12th over. Kirton got into the act soon after, hitting a six and a four against Shadley Van Schalkwyk to lift the run rate.

Shreyas Movva played a fiery unbeaten cameo of 32 runs in 16 balls to provide impetus towards the backend of the innings. For the United States, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, and Corey Anderson bagged one wicket each.