T20 World Cup: England thrash USA by 10 wickets, qualify for semi-finals

From being on the brink of getting knocked out in the group stages, England have become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024. On Sunday, 23 June, England secured the top 4 position by thrashing USA in their final Super 8 match at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. England needed to chase down a target of 116 in or less than 18.4 overs to qualify for the semi-finals, which they did relatively easily. Jos Buttler and Phil Salt gave England an aggressive start once again helping the defending champions to chase the target in just 9.4 overs.

The victory was set up by a superb bowling performance from the English side. After choking out USA with some terrific spin bowling in the middle overs, Barbados-born Chris Jordan ripped through the tail of the USA side, picking up his first hat-trick in the T20I



format.

Jordan became the first-ever English bowler to achieve this feat in a T20 World Cup. Jordan's fiery spell meant that USA failed to score a single run in their last 5 wickets. USA went from 115/5 to 115 all-out in a space of 6 balls, which sealed their fate in the match.

All of Jordan's wickets came in his final over of the match. Jordan became only the second bowler to pick 4 or more wickets in the T20 World Cup. Before him, Ireland's Curtis Campher had achieved the feat against the Netherlands in the 2021 edition of the tournament.

This has been a week for the fast bowlers in the T20 World Cup. After Pat Cummins' two hat-trick in back to back matches, Jordan picked up the third hat-trick of the tournament. This made him only the 8th bowler to achieve this feat in the world tournament.