England thrash USA to secure semi-final place
Jordan takes hat-trick and four wickets in five balls
- Published
England charged into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup with a ruthless 10-wicket thrashing of the United States.
Chris Jordan took a hat-trick - England's first in men's T20s - as the USA were dismissed for just 115 in Barbados.
And defending champions England chased their target in just 9.4 overs meaning they are guaranteed to progress because of their excellent net run-rate.
Captain Jos Buttler ended on a brutal 83 not out - a knock which included five sixes in one Harmeet Singh over which cost 31.
Earlier Jordan's hat-trick was part of a run of five wickets in six balls, four taken by the 35-year-old on the island of his birth as he returned figures of 4-10.
England do not yet know when, where or who they will play their semi-final but it will be on Wednesday (Thursday 01:30 BST) in Trinidad or Thursday (15:30 BST) in Guyana.
They could yet top Group 2 if West Indies beat South Africa later on Sunday (Monday 01:30 BST).
After that the picture will become clearer when Australia meet India on Monday in what is likely to be a must-win fixture for England's Ashes rivals.
England could meet either of those two, Afghanistan or less likely Bangladesh, in the last four as they hunt a third world T20 title in a campaign that almost met a premature end two weeks ago.
- Published23 June
England romp into last four
Buttler hits unbeaten 83 to send England into semi-finals
What a difference two weeks makes. When England left Barbados after their second match of this World Cup, a damaging defeat by Australia, their title defence was floundering.
On their return they have romped into the last four to keep their hopes alive.
Of course it must be said that three of their four wins have come against associate sides – Oman, Namibia and now the US.
They have lost two of their three against top-tier opposition, having been beaten by South Africa on Friday.
But they go into the semi-finals with momentum thanks to a savage demolition.
After Jordan’s delight, Buttler put two sixes onto the roof of the famous Worrell, Weekes and Walcott Stand as he found form with England’s fastest fifty of the tournament and his first half-century since arriving in the Caribbean.
Phil Salt was able to admire from the non-striker's end with an unbeaten 25.
Buttler's side came into this game needing to win and boost their net run-rate to ensure another nervy night awaiting the outcome of West Indies's meeting with South Africa was not needed.
In truth such a victory was never in doubt. USA's tournament ends with a heavy defeat but their run to the Super 8s has still been one of the stories of the tournament.
Jordan's spectacular homecoming
Nitish's six over long-on caught one handed by fan in the crowd
When opener Andries Gous flicked Reece Topley for six in the first over, there were chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the stands of one of cricket’s most iconic stadiums.
That was as good as it got for the US, however – the show stolen by a man born just a stone’s throw away.
Topley had Gous caught at deep-mid-wicket for eight, Steven Taylor was taken at backward point by Moeen Ali to give Sam Curran a 50th T20 wicket for England and from there Rashid spun his web.
USA’s scoring ground to a halt as Aaron Jones and Nitish Kumar were both bowled by Rashid googlies.
Corey Anderson, USA’s former New Zealand international, made a slow rebuild with 29 from 28 balls but became Jordan’s first victim by hitting the Barbados-born seamer to long-on – a ball after Curran ended his over by having Harmeet Singh snaffled in the same position for 21.
After that Jordan took centre stage as Ali Khan missed his first ball but then had his off stump sent cartwheeling, Nosthush Kenjige was trapped plumb in front and Saurabh Netravalkar was also spectacularly bowled.
Jordan beamed as he ran away in celebration in a special moment that sends England onto the last four.
'We have really enjoyed the World Cup' - what they said
England captain Jos Buttler: "We paid USA a lot of respect, but we talked a lot about our intensity and if we thought if we took it on the field we’d be too good.
"You have to got to earn the right to begin with, start well and once we got through a few overs we decided to target this side with the wind."
USA captain Aaron Jones: "It is a hard game to take in. We weren't as disciplined as we should be to be honest. It was similar to the last game and something we will have to talk about.
"Have we run out of steam? I guess you could say that. We didn't have a good last two games and we can talk about that for sure. That's how it goes sometimes. We really enjoyed the World Cup."
Player of the match Adil Rashid, who took 2-13: "We played exceptionally well, we set the tone with the ball all thorough and to restrict them to 115 we were exceptionally pleased."
"The googly has been coming out nice, hopefully I can carry that on."
