T20 World Cup: After Adil Rashid’s magic and Chris Jordan’s hat-trick, Jos Buttler’s quick 83 takes England into the semi-finals | Cricket News

Chris Jordan took four wickets in three balls, including his third hat-trick of the tournament. Buttler was relentless in his attack on the total, taking England’s net run rate even further than the West Indies. But the real hero of the victory was Adil Rashid, who spun a net with his mastery of wrist spin.

Rashid’s brilliance

“Are you looking closely?” It’s one of the most famous opening lines of a film (Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige), but it also sums up what batsmen have to do when facing elite spinners in cricket. Because if you don’t, you’ll pay for it. Rashid’s googly is one of those magic tricks on a cricket field that can embarrass batsmen through sleight of hand.

Rashid took two wickets and was rightly named Man of the Match despite the more eye-catching performances of Jordan and Buttler. The main reason for this was the importance of his effort in the middle stages of the innings and the value of the batters he dismissed.

Adil Rashid bowled a brilliant googly bowl to stun the USA captain!🔥

Will the English spinners continue to apply more pressure?

𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #USAvENG | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar (only available in India pic.twitter.com/f7vWTvKflL

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) 23 June 2024

Aaron Jones made an early splash with his masterful six-for-six performance against Canada in Dallas – but, as in the USA campaign, he ended up with two average performances. He began with a second-ball four but was a little calmer after that, perhaps trying to control himself a little. Discipline, he believes, was the key lesson from the loss to West Indies. But a tricky innings soon ended when he went down for the second consecutive slog sweep. Rashid’s googly led to the mishit as Jones’ head was not steady and he was not close enough to the ball, which sneaked past the defence.

Rashid’s googly once again hurt the USA’s best batsman on the day. Nitish Kumar looked to be in good form but the ball, which came in sharply, beat him all ends. That particular delivery could have ended Corey Anderson’s innings a couple of times too. Rashid has now taken five of his nine wickets in the tournament by the wrong wicket.
“Two wickets, but so much more than that,” Nasser Hussain summed it up in a broadcast.

Jordan’s special night

The only change England made was to bring on Jordan for Mark Wood, who was struggling with wickets despite increased speed. Jordan made Buttler the happy captain with this decision, completing the USA batting with a hat-trick and ensuring the target was small enough to be overtaken with enough balls.

After catching Anderson at the start of the 19th over, Jordan focused on the stumps with a hint of reverse swing that then filtered into the tail-ends. It was a special moment for the English pacer in his native country.

Jordan recalled in a 2020 interview with his then IPL franchise Punjab: “I remember the atmosphere there (Kensington Oval) was crazy. Everyone in Barbados would rush to the stadium when they heard that the West Indies were batting and had lost a wicket, just to watch Brian Lara bat. Even if it was just a cover drive from Brian Lara, it was a joy for everyone.”

Jofra Archer’s rise from Barbados to England has been well documented in recent times, but Jordan beat him to it. In a place where he had grown up and watched some of his idols, Jordan turned it on. That explained the smile on his face as he celebrated with his teammates.
The hunt for points was about how quickly England would catch them, and when Buttler slammed five sixes off Harmeet Singh in an over, it was clear that they were not only looking to qualify for the semi-finals, but to increase their NRR enough to top Group B. It was a bit of a strange tournament for them, but the champions did enough to be in the top four… from now on, the tournament is open to anyone.

Short reviews: USA 115 (Nitish Kumar 30, Corey Anderson 29; Chris Jordan 4/10, Adil Rashid 2/13, Sam Curran 2/23) in 18.5 overs lost to England 117/0 (Jos Buttler 83 no) in 9.4 overs.