Jordan grabs hat-trick as England thrash United States to secure semi-final berth
Chris Jordan, a pace bowler, celebrated his return to the England side with a hat-trick on Sunday in his home country, setting the defending champions up for a crushing 10 wicket victory over the United States and a place in the T20 World Cup semifinals.
After dismissing the United States for 115 from 18.5 overs in their final Super Eight group match, England captain Jos Butler (83 not out), who effortlessly lofted five sixes in an over off left-arm slow bowler Harmeet Singh, and Phil Salt (25 not out) stroked their way to 117 without loss in 9.4 overs.
After being asked to bat first, the United States lost their last five wickets in six deliveries.
Jordan, who had replaced Mark Wood, began the 19th over with Harry Brook catching Corey Anderson at long-on. Two balls later, he clean bowled Ali Khan, then trapped Nosthush Kenjige lbw and bowled Saurabh Netravalkar for a hat-trick, all three falling without scoring.
Jordan finished with four for ten from 2.5 overs, thanks to another masterclass in wrist spin from Adil Rashid, who was named man of the match.
Rashid took two for 13 in four overs, including the prize wicket of captain Aaron Jones, who was bowled for ten after misjudging a googly that spun back to hit his stumps.
Nitish Kumar top-scored with 30 runs, and former New Zealand all-rounder Anderson hit some aggressive shots late in the innings, but it was all too little, too late on an excellent batting surface at Kensington Oval.
"Very nice to do this at a special place like this," said Jordan. "I thought we worked out the conditions well. Rashid came on and controlled one end and the way Livi (Liam Livingstone) bowled set the game up."
After Butler won the toss and chose to field first, Andries Gous hit the fourth ball of left-arm paceman Reece Topley's first over for a six over fine leg boundary, but was caught for eight attempting a similar shot from the final delivery.
Jofra Archer, who is also representing England in his country of birth, opened from the other end, conceding a six when Kumar was late on his hook shot, causing the ball to fly over the third man boundary.
Topley's second over produced a more authentic shot, soaring over long-on for another six.
Left-arm paceman Sam Curran took over from Archer and struck with his third ball, catching Steven Taylor at point by Moeen Ali for 12, his 50th ODI wicket.
Rashid then bowled Jones, and at the halfway point, the Americans were at 65 for three. They were never able to recover because Livingstone, with his combination of wrist and finger spin, was nearly as effective from the other end, taking one for 24 from four overs.
"I thought if we could bring our intensity we'd be too good," Butler said. "We've got great options, we wanted to bring Chris Jordan back, he adds a bit of depth with his batting capabilities as well. A world cup hat-trick is a great effort."
SportsLigue