USA vs CAN

So that is that for this T20 World Cup opener. Another edition of the competition is underway and it promises to be a thrill of a ride as we go along. A double-header is lined up of course on Sunday as West Indies kickstart their campaign against Papua New Guinea before Namibia go head-to-head against Oman. Do join us for our coverage of both these encounters right here on Sportskeeda while keeping yourselves updated with further cricketing news and action from around the world. For now, this is the duo of Arya and Sooryanarayanan taking your leave. See you around soon - goodbye and take care!

What a game that was to get us going for the tournament! There was plenty to look forward to and both Canada and USA have dished out a classic with the crowd enjoying to the fullest here in Dallas. A big result for USA as they next take on Pakistan in a few days' time. Canada will have to regroup now before their next contest where they face Ireland in a must-win clash.

Monank Patel (USA captain): (On Aaron Jones) We always knew he has the game. The way he played, he played fearless cricket today. He was backing his shots. We don't see such innings every day. (On the crowd) Was really happy to see how they came in big numbers and supported us. I hope they keep coming and supporting us in the coming games too. We want to continue playing fearless cricket. We don't want to change anything whether it's Pakistan or India. We just want to keep playing the way we've been playing.

Saad Bin Zafar (Canada captain): I think 194 was a great total. I twas quite confident at that time. I think Navneet and Kirton played great for us, Movva had a great cameo at the end. We started well in the powerplay and took early wickets but I think Aaron Jones and Gous batted exceptionally well. Our bowlers had no answers to them. The wicket had good bounce. It was coming on nicely to the bat and that's why we were able to score 194. But it got better to bat in the second innings with the dew factor. We missed a bit of line and length. The spinners especially. I think we bowled four no balls - as a bowling unit, it's a big no-no in a T20 game. That is something we need to work on. Even the catch we had off a no ball - if that was not a no ball we could have pulled the game back but that changed the game. We played an exceptionally good game overall. Nothing to be sad about, I'm still happy with the effort the boys put in. Just the first game and we've got to put it behind us and come back strong in the next game.

Aaron Jones is the Player of the Match, here is what he had to say: I don't think it's easy to put into words. Canada always comes hard against us. I am just happy to take my side over the line. I always thought anything under 200 was chaseable. We backed ourselves and played aggressive cricket. To be honest I go through my process in practice. I do power-hitting practice and it was a very good wicket to bat on. Yeah to be honest I like to come in when the team is under a bit of pressure which brings the best out of me.

Match Summary: USA beat Canada by 7 wickets with 14 deliveries to spare!

Aaron Jones 94* (40) | Harmeet Singh 1/27 (4)
Navneet Dhaliwal 61 (44) | Dillon Heyliger 1/19 (3)

So how many runs short were Canada? Who'd have imagined asking this at one point eh? From 48/2 in eight overs, USA have gone on to bulldoze Canada with 14 deliveries to spare. 149 runs off the next 9.4 overs is ridiculous to think of but that is exactly what we've witnessed here in Dallas!

195 was a steep target and USA's chase got off to the worst possible start with Kaleem Sana trapping Steven Taylor in front in the first over for a duck. The scoring rate never got going with Monank Patel trying his best to up the ante, only to lose his way. With the Canadian seamers making full use of the movement on offer early on, they kept things tight and sent the asking rate shooting up.

Enter Aaron Jones! Nikhil Dutta came on and Jones tore into the spinner post which he continued to operate in sixth gear alone. A simple case of 'see ball, hit ball' saw him apply plenty of pressure back on the bowlers who seemed lost for answers as just about every other delivery traveled the distance. There were some monstrous ones there with Jones looking to dump the ball outside the Grand Prairie Stadium. Bearing a significant brunt of it was Jeremy Gordon, who managed to get a wicket off a no ball as what seemed an endless 14th over produced 33 runs.

At the other end was Andries Gous, who just flew under the radar of Jones' belligerence. Gous played his part to perfection though, taking his time before flicking a switch himself as he racked up a fifty of his own. Beyond a point, the result was a foregone conclusion even as Gous was dismissed by Nikhil Dutta. Fittingly, Jones sealed it with a tenth six as he sent it soaring into the stands where the American supporters sure had a ball today. Stick around for the presentation...

Did you expect anything different all? Of course, Jones was bound to finish it off with a big one! What a stunning run chase this has been by USA as they kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign with a 7-wicket win!

17.4 Nikhil Dutta to Aaron Jones, SIX! Jones finishes it off in style, what an incredible knock this has been from Aaron Jones. USA win by 7 wickets. In the slot around the middle stump channel, Jones gets down on one knee and dispatches the slog sweep well over the deep midwicket fence. What an unbelievable turnaround from USA and Aaron Jones. 

17.2 Nikhil Dutta to Aaron Jones, SIX! The deep backward square leg fielder has parried that over the fence. In the slot around middle, Jones gets down on one knee and didn't quite nail the sweep but had enough to get one more maximum. 

17.1 Nikhil Dutta to Aaron Jones, FOUR! This is great batting from Aaron Jones. Gets into position early for the reverse sweep, on a good-length around middle and he manages to clear the short third man fielder. 

Sana bows out for the evening and while things have slowed down a touch in the last couple of overs, USA are primed to win this one with enough time to spare. Jones will want to wrap this up at the earliest. He's not going to hang around alright!

16.6 Kaleem Sana to Aaron Jones, sloppy work from the keeper, Sana straying down the leg side, Jones misses out on the flick and comes back for a brace as the keeper fumbles. 

16.4 Kaleem Sana to Corey Anderson, fuller-length delivery around off, Anderson nudges it away towards the off side and was looking for a single, a shy at the stumps and the over throw eventually gives Anderson the run he was after. 

16.3 Kaleem Sana to Aaron Jones, fuller-length delivery around off, drilled down the ground all along the carpet, down towards long off and has to settle for a single. 

16.2 Kaleem Sana to Corey Anderson, Anderson comes down the track and digs out the fuller one around middle, down towards the cover fielder and settes for a single.