Who: America vs Canada
what: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Group A matches
when: Saturday, June 1st, 7:30pm local time (June 2nd, 03:30 GMT)
where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas, United States
Finally it comes.
With just hours to go until the biggest anticipated event in North American cricket, who better to kick it off than the two teams playing the first ever recorded international cricket match in history?
When the United States hosts Canada in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, there’s more at stake than revenge for a defeat from 100 years ago.
Making their ICC World Cup debut, the United States will be looking to build on their recent dominance over their northern neighbours and start the tournament with a win.
Canada has previously competed in the ICC’s 50-over World Cup and will be making their debut in the T20 version of the tournament.
It’s a landmark moment for the U.S. team to compete in an elite event after decades of being confined to minor tournaments.
“We’ve talked about going to the World Cup for the last few years and taking U.S. cricket to a higher level,” U.S. vice-captain Aaron Jones said ahead of the opening match.
“play [in] The World Cup is probably the tallest [so far]. “
America wants support from its born-and-raised fans
Jones said the team was determined to play “fearless” cricket.
As co-hosts of the tournament along with the West Indies, the United States is under pressure to perform strongly at home.
Cricket leaders believe the explosive, shorter format is the best fit to appeal to mainstream American sports fans, and Jones says his team doesn’t want to be afraid to go on the attack.
“Fearless cricket, positive cricket, smart cricket – I think that’s what we’re really serious about trying to do,” Jones told a news conference.
“I don’t want to regret anything. If we win, it’s great. If we don’t win, those things happen in cricket. But I don’t want to regret anything,” he added.
Jones was born in New York but grew up in Barbados, where he played for the national team early in his career, before returning to the United States to join the team.
He also acknowledges the responsibility of being an ambassador for the sport as the team plays games in Texas, Florida and New York.
“What you do on the field is very important but what you do off the field is very important as well, especially for a country that doesn’t know much about cricket,” he said.
“We want to excite our fans. We want to get more support from people who were born and raised in the U.S., and the only way to do that is by playing well and interacting with our fans off the field, and with our growing fan base.”
#TeamUSA Preparing for historic showdown with Canada in opening game @ICC @T20 World Cup Tomorrow! 🔥🤩💪
If you don’t have your tickets yet, purchase them online 📲: https://t.co/sNaRIqkaLn#T20WorldCup | #WeAreUSACricket 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ZGlpvCGvQs
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) May 31, 2024
Canada prepares for ‘tough competition’
Meanwhile, Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar believes his team is not under pressure and is equally excited to show what they can do.
“Everybody is eager to go and everybody is eager to perform,” Zafar told reporters on the eve of the match.
The U.S. has had an advantage over Canada in recent meetings and Zafar will be hoping his team can win its opening match of the tournament.
“We’re rivals, so we tend to play each other a lot,” he said.
“At the same time, there is a lot of friendship between the two countries,” Zafar added.
“And now it’s the big stage of the World Cup, so both countries want to give their best against the other team.
“I think it’s going to be a really great, tough match and I think both teams will be entertaining for the crowd.”
here @t20 world cup Team Canada’s group stage match schedule 🇨🇦💪
Watch live on Willow TV#t20worldcup #icc #WeCanPlayCricket #CricketCanada pic.twitter.com/cC8ihYhpdr
— Cricket Canada (@canadiancricket) May 31, 2024
Face to face
The North American rivals have met seven times in T20 matches, with the USA winning five and Canada winning twice.
Four of these wins have come in the recent five-match T20 series, one of which was abandoned due to inclement weather.
shape
The USA enters the T20 World Cup on the back of a stunning 2-1 series victory over Bangladesh, a team that featured big names such as Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman and captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto.
Canada’s last T20 game was a five-match series against the United States, where they lost 0-4 and will be looking to turn things around.
united states of america: cute
Canada: LLALL
USA team news
The co-hosts come into the game riding the success of their series win and will not be making any changes to the 11-man roster that led them to a 2-1 series victory.
USA Team: Monank Patel (captain), Shayan Jahangir, Andries Goos, Nitish Kumar, Steven Taylor, Harmeet Singh, Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Shadlee van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jesse Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar and Noush Kenjige.
Canadian team news
Canada has only completed one of its two warm-up matches before the tournament but will be hoping the team, which beat Nepal last week, can perform better against their North American neighbours and get off to a winning start.
Canadian Team: Saad Bin Zafar (captain), Navneet Dhaliwal, Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Kanwarpal Tasgul, Shreyas Mova, Dillon Heyliger, Dilpreet Bajwa, Harsh Thakkar, Jeremy Gordon, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana, Nicholas Kirton, Pargat Singh and Rayyan Khan Pathan.
