Series: Americas World Cup Qualifiers Sep 2021
Venue: Reforma Athletic Club, Naucalpan
Format: T20I
Toss: USA
Result: USA by 6 wickets
USA Wins Tournament Opener
Brazil and the United States kicked off proceedings in the first encounter of the ICC Americas World T20 Qualifiers and it is was the tale of two strong women going head to head. Brazil’s Roberta Avery, a pioneering trailblazer in women’s cricket, and Julia Price, the former Australian Test and ODI player and now USA coach. They didn’t disappoint.
Sindhu Sriharsha won the toss for the USA and elected to field. It is the safe option at the beginning of a series and in turn it proved to be the right option. The pitch proved more than lively for the USA pace bowlers against a team that was not used to playing on turf wickets. The variable bounce on this wicket caused the Brazil batters to play with extreme caution and this has a negative impact on the run rate.
The left-arm pace from Tara Norris (2-5) removed both openers. She bowled tight lines and with a degree of hostility one expects from an opening quick. Roberta Avery (6) attempted to stem the flow but she was removed when the fourth bowler used, Suhani Thadani (1-11) was brought into the attack. While the other bowlers impressed, this fifteen year old medium pacer bowled superb lines and some lovely movement away from the right hander.
Renata de Sousa (13*) tried to anchor the innings but wickets tumbled around her. The slick fielding brought about two runouts and overall a most professional effort in the field – one could see the fingerprints of the coach all over the performance. Third seamer Moksha Chaudhary (2-17) was one of a four pronged pace attack that Brazil managed to keep out, but not dominate. They finished with 63/8 from their twenty overs.
If the USA were good in the field, the Brazilians dialed it up to eleven, led by their energetic skipper whose runout of US opener Shebani Bhaskar in the first over meant it was game on. Avery switched between fielding at short cover and backward point through the game and was a constant headache for the batters.
USA skipper Sindhu Sriharsha (25*) was not entertaining any ideas of allowing the intense fielding to get on top of her and guided her team home to victory by six wickets. It was only a modest chase but it could have got out of hand if another couple of wickets fell, such was the fielding pressure exerted by the Brazilians.
Player of the match was Tara Norris for her opening spell of 2-5, setting her team on course as the USA wins the tournament opener.
Scores:
Brazil 63/8 (Renata de Sousa 13*, Tara Norris 2-5, Moksha Chaudhary 2-17) 20 overs
USA 64/4 (Sindhu Sriharsha 25*, Anika Kolan 14, Renata Sousa 1-11, Nicole Monteiro 1-13) 16.1 overs
Player of the Match: Tara Norris