T20 WORLD CUP: India survive major USA scare to reach Super 8 stage

India, who won the toss and elected to bowl first, benefited from Arshdeep Singh’s brilliant four for nine, which included 17 dot balls, to limit the tournament co-hosts to 110 for eight from their allotted overs.

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When Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma went early, India fans were left biting their nails as the USA – who beat Pakistan last week – sensed another famous T20 World Cup win but Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century saw them to victory.

Arshdeep trapped Shayan Jahangir in front with the first delivery at Long Island’s Nassau County International Cricket Stadium before Andries Gous was dismissed five balls later in an electric start.

The pace bowler also dismissed Nitish Kumar, who top-scored with 27, and Harmeet Singh for 10 during his brilliant spell – not yielding a single boundary from his four overs.

The United States, who were missing captain Monank Patel due to injury, set a target of 111 for India, but their reply faltered when Netravalkar got the prized wicket of Kohli with the second ball of the innings.

The left-arm seamer – who finished with two for 18 from four overs – dismissed captain Rohit for three in the third over, while Rishabh Pant was bowled for 18 by Ali Khan in the eighth over, leaving India reeling on 39 for three.

Suryakumar and Shivam Dube were left to recover but struggled to shake off the Americans and required 40 from their final five overs.

However, after two previous warnings, the umpires awarded five penalty runs after the United States failed to begin their next over in the 60-second allowance.

That catapulted Yadav into action with an unbeaten 50, aided by Dube’s 31, to complete their chase with 10 balls to spare and book their place in the next round.

The United States still have a chance to advance and will guarantee a top-two finish if they beat Ireland on Friday.