USA win T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier; Brazil pull off heist against Canada to finish second

Americas Qualifier with their fifth win of the tournament in their final fixture against Argentina at the Reforma Athletic Club in Naucalpan on Monday (October 25). In the other match, an extraordinary final over from Laura Cardoso – where five wickets fell including a hat-trick - saw Brazil pull off a heist against Canada to finish second with four wins from six matches.

Having suffered their first loss of the competition against Canada on Sunday, the USA opted to field and Moksha Chaudhary struck early in the fifth over. Argentina lost their skipper Veronica Vasquez in the next over to Suhani Thadani. Even though Mariana Martinez and Lucia Taylor batted through to the tenth over without any further loss, they couldn’t keep the scorecard moving.

Once Uzma Iftikhar dismissed Taylor, Argentina kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for 47 in the final delivery of their innings. For USA, Chaudhary was the most successful bowler with three wickets for seven runs, while Iftikhar and Geetika Kodali took two wickets each.

In the chase, USA openers started aggressively with Shebani Bhaskar finding two boundaries in the first two overs. Bhaskar hit Tamara Basile for another four in the fourth over and Gargi Bhogle joined her with her first boundary in the next over.

Having scored 45 runs in the power play, USA eased to a ten-wicket win in the seventh over when Bhogle took the winning run in the third ball. They will go through to the T20 World Cup Global Qualifier with ten points from their six matches.

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Earlier in the day, Brazil were asked to bat first by Canada in a rain-reduced 17 overs- per-side encounter. They struggled on a sluggish surface and couldn’t get going with Hiba Shamshad and Hala Azmat striking to remove the openers.

From there, skipper Roberta Avery tried to bat through the innings with a patient 32-ball 21 before getting dismissed in the 16^th over. Brazil eventually finished at 48 for seven from their 17 overs. For Canada, Shamshad was the best bowler on display with figures of three for eight and Hazmat finished with two wickets from her four overs.

In reply, Canada were rocked early by Maria Ribeiro when she took the wicket of Miryam Khokhar in the second over. By the tenth over, they were reeling at 19 for five with still needing 30 runs. Mukhwinder Gill in the company of Krima Kapadia took them to 37 at the end of the 15^th over.

Needing 12 to win from the last two overs, Canada took nine runs off the penultimate over with Gill hitting a boundary off the fifth ball. With three runs to get in the final over with five wickets in hand, Cardoso started with a dot ball for Brazil before they ran Kapadia out for nine. Azmat dragged one onto the stumps to be bowled for a first-ball duck in the third ball. Cardoso cleaned up Shamshad in the next ball and completed her hat-trick when Sana Zafar hit one straight to Avery.

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With still three runs to get in the final ball, Gill came back for the second run in an attempt to take the match to the Super Over but was found short of the crease, leaving Canada one run short as Brazil players broke into celebrations. For Brazil, Cardoso finished with figures of three for eight from three overs, while Renata de Sousa took two wickets.

Brief Scores:

Argentina 47/10 in 20 overs (Mariana Martinez 10; Moksha Chaudhary 3/7, Uzma Iftikhar 2/10) lost to the USA 48/0 in 6.3 overs (Shebani Bhaskar 23*, Gargi Bhogle 17*) by 10 wickets. POTM: Moksha Chaudhary

Brazil 48/7 in 17 overs (Roberta Avery 21*; Hiba Shamshad 3/8, Hala Azmat 2/11) beat Canada 47/10 in 17 overs (Mukhwinder Gill 19; Laura Cardoso 3/8, Renata de Sousa 2/3) by 1 run. POTM: Laura Cardoso