The United States said they were not satisfied with their T20 World Cup opener despite recently beating Canada 4-0 and surprising Bangladesh.
By ESPNcricinfo Staff
The 2024 T20 World Cup kicks off in Dallas on Saturday with the tournament’s co-hosts, North American neighbours USA and Canada, taking on each other – and, of course, the two teams who played the first-ever international cricket match together in 1844. The history of the rivalry is well known to USA vice-captain Aaron Jones.
“You know, the first international game was between the USA and Canada, so this has been going on for many years,” Jones said at a news conference on the eve of the World Cup.
“As far as the players go, we’re all friends and we’ve been together and played against each other for years, so we all get on well and it’s cool, but as far as the fans go, it’s a bit of a rivalry and we all know that. We enjoy playing against Canada and they enjoy playing against us. We know it’s definitely going to be a challenging game and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
In the lead up to the World Cup, the U.S. recorded a commanding 4-0 T20I series victory over Canada in April and a historic series win over Bangladesh in May, but Jones is not content with past results.
“I don’t want to focus too much on the 4-0 win in the last series. [against Canada]”It’s over now and the teams we played in that series are not exactly the same teams we’ll play tomorrow,” Jones said.
“It’s a World Cup game, the first game of the World Cup, so the pressure will be on both teams. And obviously we know the great rivalry we have with Canada, so the pressure will be on both teams. It’s going to be a matter of who handles the pressure better tomorrow.” [that will come out on top] To tell the truth.”
“Obviously, in the last few years we’ve played some great, competitive cricket against the U.S.,” Canada captain Saad bin Zafar said, “so we’re hopeful we can play some entertaining cricket.”
“It’s a World Cup game, it’s the first game of the World Cup, so the pressure will be on both teams. And obviously we know the great rivalry we have with Canada, so the pressure will be on both teams.”United States Vice Captain Aaron Jones
Saad is also excited for Canadian players to have the opportunity to test themselves at the highest level.
“As I said to all of our players, even coming from the qualifiers, it was a dream come true to represent Canada at the World Cup,” he said. “You don’t get a chance to play against the top countries very often. The World Cup is the only stage where you can compete against the best players in the world and test your skills, and finally we got to get there.”
“It’s a little emotional, but we’ve been waiting for this opportunity and finally we got it. We just want to represent Canada and perform to the best of our ability at this World Cup.”
One player who knows what it’s like to play for his country on both sides of the border is batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar, who played 18 T20Is for Canada between 2012 and 2019 and his first T20I for the USA in the series against Canada in April this year. Jones points out that Nitish has already played against his former team and will be well prepared come match day.
“Obviously, when he played against Canada in the last series. [in April] I think he got about 60 points. [64] “He’s integrated well into the game, he’s adjusted well to the team and I think he’s looking forward to playing against Canada.”
