The U.S. will be looking to build on this success and pull off another upset against favorites South Africa in Antigua’s North Sound.
Who: USA vs South Africa
what: ICC T20 World Cup Super Eight
when: Wednesday, June 19th, 10:30am (14:30 GMT)
where: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda
How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live coverage begins at 11:30 GMT
The Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup will kick off with an unexpected opponent.
Team USA made a surprise appearance at the Caribbean Regional Championship and is determined not to back out anytime soon.
“We’re not going to go down without a fight,” coach Stuart Law told Al Jazeera after the US’s place in the Super Eight was confirmed.
The diverse U.S. national team includes two Caribbean players who have played in the region before, and Aaron Jones believes his team will receive a good response from the West Indian crowd.
“Me and Stephen [Taylor] “We’ve got a lot of support in the Caribbean so we’ll definitely have that support tomorrow,” Jones said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
The U.S. vice-captain, who scored six goals in the group stage, tied for the team-highest total (13), said his team was excited to take on the biggest teams in the world.
“The players are excited to play against the best teams in the world and that’s what we wanted to do too. We’ve been talking about it for the last few years and now that we’re here, we’re just going to enjoy our cricket and like I said, we’re always going to play fearless cricket.”
South Africa are wary of the American threat and captain Aiden Markram agreed they “have to play our best” against the co-hosts on Wednesday.
“Many people will say [the USA are one of the] “They’re said to be a small country, but they’re not and they’ve proven that,” Markram told reporters.
With the Super Eight matches taking place at multiple venues across the Caribbean, Markram said it will be crucial for the team to gather as much information as possible about each venue.
History is being made!!! 🇺🇸🔥🙌
first time, #TeamUSA Qualified for the Super 8 stage @ICC @T20 World Cup! 🤩✨
Congratulations, #TeamUSA! 🙌❤️ pic.twitter.com/tkquQhAVap
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) June 14, 2024
Pitch Condition
The pitches in Antigua have seen a mix of low and high scoring matches, but the conditions are favourable for batting, a stark difference from the pitches in New York, where teams struggled to score runs.
There will still be some help for bowlers, especially wrist spinners and those with good accuracy and control.
weather forecast
The weather forecast for this week is cloudy and humid with a slight chance of rain.
Face to face
The two teams have never played against each other in any form of game.
Form Guide
Although the USA lost to India in the final game of the tournament, they will have gained confidence from a tough battle against a South Asian powerhouse, and in their debut they showed plenty of resilience and control in their historic Super Over win over Pakistan.
South Africa are one of four teams still unbeaten so far in the tournament but were nearly upset by Nepal in their final group game.
united states of america: low
South Africa: yay
🏏 Follow | #SAvUSA
It’s Super 8 time! ⚡️
Watch as the Proteas take on the USA looking to open their Super 8 campaign with a ‘win’.
🗓️ June 19
🏟 Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
🕚 16:30 Cat
📺 SuperSport Grandstand (Channel 201)#Wozanawe #Let’sJoin… pic.twitter.com/idEmdFMQef— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 19, 2024
USA team news
The U.S. will be welcoming back captain Monankh Patel, who sat out the India series, and left-arm spinner Nostash Kensige, who showed excellent control of the ball against Pakistan.
team: Monank Patel (captain), Shayan Jahangir, Aaron Jones, Andries Gauss, Nitish Kumar, Steven Taylor, Harmeet Singh, Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Shadlee van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jesse Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Noshish Kenjige
South African team news
The Proteas may consider fielding two spinners and using the crafty Keshav Maharaj in place of one of their three pace bowlers.
team: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaassen, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Janssen, Ottoneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Bjorn Fortuyn, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.
