New York: Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten half-century and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh claimed a career-best 4-9 as India defeated the United States by seven wickets to reach the T20 World Cup second round on Wednesday. Chasing 111 to win the Group A clash, India were rattled at 15-2 and then 44-3 before Yadav (50) and Shivam Dube (31) put on an undefeated fourth-wicket stand of 67 to secure a third win in three games for Rohit Sharma's team with 10 balls to spare. "We knew this was going to be a tough task.
We lost some wickets up front but we showed some maturity to take the game to the end," said Rohit. Despite the defeat, the United States are still well-placed to join India in the Super Eights as they have four points while Pakistan and Canada are on two with a game each to play. India were stunned by Mumbai-born fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar who played for India at the Under-19 World Cup in 2010.
He had superstar batsman Virat Kohli caught behind for nought off the first ball he faced. Rohit was then caught by Harmeet Singh at mid-off, again off the bowling of the 32-year-old Netravalkar in the third over. Rishabh Pant's 18-run cameo was ended when his stumps were uprooted by Ali Khan in the eighth over.
However, Yadav went to his 18th international T20 half-century from 49 balls with two fours and a pair of sixes. Left-hander Dube's 31 came off 35 deliveries and featured a boundary and a six on the same tricky and slow Nassau County International Cricket Stadium .