Jordan ‘tricks’ US, England into semis

BRIDGETOWN: Fast bowler Chris Jordan got a hat-trick and the American cricket team lost five wickets in six balls as England secured their spot in the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.

Defending champion England crushed the United States by ten wickets with 62 balls remaining in their last Super Eight game.

Jordan, who replaced pacer Mark Wood, grabbed four wickets off five balls in his last over to dismantle the US for 115 runs in 18.5 overs and become the first Englishman to claim a hat-trick in T20 internationals. He finished with 4-10 in 2.5 overs on the Caribbean island of Barbados where he was born.

“Very nice to do this at a special place like this,” Jordan said.

Captain Jos Buttler then smashed 83 not out off 38 balls, including five sixes in one over against left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, as England raced to 117-0 in 9.4 overs.

“I thought if we could bring our intensity, we’d be too good,” Buttler said. England started their innings knowing that they needed to surpass South Africa’s net run-rate by chasing the target in 18.4 overs but finished the chase in less than ten overs.

“We’ve got great options. We wanted to bring Chris Jordan back, adds a bit of depth with his batting capabilities as well,” Buttler said.

England, who also beat West Indies, finished the Super Eights with two big wins and a healthy net run-rate of 1.992. Their massive win over the US meant South Africa, who were unbeaten in six games but have a net run-rate of 0.625, needed to avoid defeat against tournament co-host West Indies in Sunday’s other game to qualify with England for the semifinals.

England squeezed the Americans in the middle overs through impeccable leg spin from man-of-the-match Adil Rashid (2-13 in four overs) as Liam Livingstone (1-24) also bowled well after Buttler won the toss and elected to field.

Rashid, who didn’t concede a boundary, bowled two perfect googlies that baffled captain Aaron Jones (10) and top-scorer Nitish Kumar (30).

The sensational collapse began at the end of the 18th over when Jordan caught Harmeet Singh at long-off — off Sam Curran’s full toss — and then bowled a pulsating 19th over.

Corey Anderson (29) holed out a pacey full toss from Jordan at the start of the over. Jordan’s third ball sent Ali Khan’s off stump cartwheeling. Jordan then had Nosthush Kenjige pinned leg before wicket off a sharp incoming delivery and got his hat-trick by uprooting Saurabh Netravalkar’s middle stump to end the match.

Jordan is the second bowler at this World Cup after Pat Cummins to record a hat- trick. The Australian fast bowler took back-to-back hat-tricks against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Buttler smashed seven sixes and six boundaries. Phil Salt (25 not out) happily gave the strike to his skipper.

The Americans’ fairy-tale World Cup debut, which included a historic victory against heavyweight Pakistan earlier in the tournament, ended with three straight Super Eight losses.

Jones said his team ran out of steam against South Africa, West Indies and England in the Super Eight stage after his sensational power-hitting earned the US two back-to-back wins over Canada and Pakistan in the first two games during the group stage.

“We’ve not had a good last two games,” Jones said, but added “we’ve really enjoyed this tournament.”

Jones said his team had defied expectations.

“This is our first World Cup and I don’t think people would have thought we’d be playing here against the big boys,” Jones said. “Hopefully this will open the eyes of the American public.”

Scores: UNITED STATES 115 all out (18.5 overs) - Nitish Kumar 30, Corey Anderson 29; Chris Jordan 4-10 vs ENGLAND 117/0 (9.4 overs) - Jos Buttler 83 not out, Phil Salt 25 not out.