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Aaron Jones blasted a stunning unbeaten knock of 94 off 40 balls as the United States beat Canada by seven wickets in the first match of the T20 World Cup on Saturday.
Jones, who was born in New York but grew up in Barbados, partnered Andries Gous to score 131 for the third wicket, turning the momentum of the match perfectly, robbing the Canadian attack and hitting 10 sixes.
Jones was in complete control in the 13th over, attacking the slow left arm of Canadian captain Saad Bin Zafar to hit three sixes in one innings.
The tide of the match then turned decidedly in the US’s favour, with Jeremy Gordon’s medium-fast quick delivery scoring just 33 runs in a disastrous over, while the Canadians hit three wides and two no-balls, one of which cancelled out a possible Gordon out.
Former South Africa Under-19 batsman Gus scored 65 off 46 balls before hitting a ball from Nikhil Dutta to deep midwicket to end the U.S. partnership. In the seventh over, the U.S. was struggling at 42-2 and in the sixteenth over, they were close to the finishing line at 173-3.
Former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson accompanied Jones, who finished the over perfectly with his tenth six of the night.
It was the perfect start to the tournament for the co-hosts, with the packed Grande Prairie Stadium crowd roaring with joy as Jones beat the Canadian attacker to the line.
“I find it hard to put into words,” said Jones, whose 10 sixes were the second-most in a T20 World Cup innings, behind only West Indies player Chris Gayle’s 11 sixes against England in 2016.
“With the batting line-up we have, we know that any score below 200 is chaseable. I went through my process and I love my power shots. I know if I hit it in the middle, it will go my way. I like to play when the team is under pressure and it brings out the best in me,” he said.
Canada, also making their T20 World Cup debut, set a seemingly challenging target as Navneet Dhaliwal scored 61 runs off 44 balls, including six fours and three sixes, while opener Aaron Johnson led the way with a blistering 23 runs off 16 balls.
Nicholas Kirton kept the momentum going with 51 off 31 in the second half of the innings, while Shreyas Movva played a major role with 32 off 16 to help Canada to a strong finish in Group A, but it was Jones who caused havoc.
“We started well but Jones and Gus batted very well. Our bowlers didn’t stand a chance,” said captain Bin Zafar.
“Our bowlers didn’t bowl the line and length they should have, we shouldn’t have conceded no balls and extra balls. We played a good game overall. There’s nothing to be sad about, it was a good effort from the lads. It’s just the beginning and hopefully we can do well in the next game,” he said.
The United States is co-hosting the tournament with the West Indies, and the 16 group stage matches will be played at three venues in the United States – South Florida, New York and Dallas.
India, Pakistan and Ireland are also competing in Group A, with two of these countries set to advance to the Super Eights.
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