India and Australia. (Photo Source: ICC)
India and Australia are set to square off against each other in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eights stage after both teams booked their places with dominant performances in the group stage. Rohit Sharma’s India defeated co-hosts USA by seven wickets on Wednesday to top Group A, while Australia are also the table toppers in Group B.
India kicked off their World Cup campaign with victories over Ireland and Pakistan before the comfortable win against the USA. Chasing 111, Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 50 off 49 balls guided India home with 10 balls to spare. For the USA, Saurabh Netravalkar took two wickets, but India outclassed them, especially from Arshdeep Singh’s 4-fer.
The Aussies have also been clinical, overcoming Oman, England, and Namibia in Group B to seal their Super 8 berth as group toppers. As per the pre-seedings by the ICC, India (A1) will take on Australia (B2) in a blockbuster clash on June 24 at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia.
Also read: Arshdeep Singh becomes first Indian bowler to pick wicket on first ball in T20 World Cups
It is a big relief, playing cricket here wasn’t easy: Rohit
Apart from the Mitchell Marsh & Co, the Men in Blue have some other tricky opponents in their Super Eight group. Afghanistan have been slotted into India’s group as the next-best third-placed team. The final spot will be a tussle between Bangladesh and Netherlands, who missed out on automatic qualification.
The Indian skipper expressed relief at making the Super 8s. He also praised the bowling efforts, particularly from Arshdeep Singh, and lauded Suryakumar Yadav’s maturity in guiding the chase against the Americans.
“It is a big relief, playing cricket here wasn’t easy. We had to stick through till the end in all 3 games. Will take a lot of confidence from these wins. (On Suryakumar) He showed he has a different game to him, that’s what you expect from experienced players. Credit to the way he stuck through today to take the game deep and win it for us. All the bowlers did the job, particularly Arshdeep,” Sharma said in the post-match interview.
Also read: Why were USA fined five-run penalty vs India in T20 World Cup 2024 match?
Before heading to the Super Eight stage, starting June 19. India will be up against Canada for their last group-stage game on June 15 at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.