Co-hosts USA have reached the second stage of an ICC World Cup cricket event for the first time, advancing to the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup 2024 after rain in Florida washed out their final group match against Ireland at Broward County Stadium on Friday.
The abandoned match saw the teams split the points, taking USA three points clear of Pakistan who will play their final fixture on Sunday against Ireland in Florida.
The USA cricket team reached the Super Eight stage after victories against Canada and Pakistan, before going down narrowly to India who have topped Group A and are also through to the next stage.
“It’s a big thing for the USA to qualify for the Super Eight,” USA vice-captain Aaron Jones said. “Over the last couple of years, we have been speaking about playing at the World Cup, getting more games against full-member nations and stuff like that. And here we are, doing it right now.”
The Super Eight stage of the competition will be hosted across the Caribbean, with the USA to play South Africa in Antigua on Wednesday.
USA’s progression to the Super Eight stage also sees the team automatically qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight stage will see eight teams split into two pools of four, with the top two teams from each to go through to the semi-finals.
USA will be grouped with South Africa, West Indies and England or Scotland depending on results in the final group stage fixtures.
“Definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Aaron Jones said. “Over the last couple of weeks, we have shown we could compete and beat against teams of the full-member nations.”
The T20 World Cup 2024 is being co-hosted by the West Indies and USA from June 1 to 29. The event is the largest in the tournament’s history with 20 international teams playing 55 matches across nine cities.
It is the first time USA hosted matches at a T20 World Cup, with 16 first round matches split between three cities – New York, Dallas and Lauderhill. West Indies, who hosted the event in 2010, are hosting matches at seven venues.
T20 World Cup 2024: USA cricket team Super Eight schedule
Wednesday, June 19: USA vs South Africa – 10:30 AM in Antigua (Local time)
Friday, June 21: USA vs West Indies – 8:30 PM in Barbados (Local time)
Sunday, June 23: USA vs England or Scotland – 10:30 AM in Barbados (Local time)