The United States is out of the T20 Cricket World Cup after a heavy defeat by England in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 83-run innings off just 38 balls — including seven sixes — saw England chase down the U.S. target of 116 with a mammoth 62 balls to spare at the Kensington Oval.
England are defending champions at this shortest format of the sport and now take their place in the semifinals.
Nitish Kumar (30) top scored with the bat for the U.S. as Adil Rashid starred to keep the co-hosts in check before Chris Jordan took a hat-trick — three wickets in three consecutive balls — to restrict them to a total of just 115.
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England, who lost to South Africa last time out, never gave the U.S. a chance in reply with England captain Buttler in particularly devastating form.
His 24th T20 half-century included five sixes off one Harmeet Singh over with Phil Salt’s 25 from 21 balls seeing England through to a comfortable 10-wicket victory.
“It is a hard game to take in,” U.S. captain Aaron Jones said. “We weren’t as disciplined as we should be to be honest. It was similar to the last game and something we will have to talk about.
“The wicket was a bit sticky and Adil Rashid is for sure a very good bowler. I didn’t think our shot selection was the best. We knew he was the dangerman on this wicket for sure, and we still gave him some wickets as well.”
Buttler was devastating with the bat (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. was a revelation in its first global competition and by reaching the Super Eights — a second group phase — will automatically be part of the next T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka in 2026.
The U.S. qualified for this second phase after victories over Canada and Pakistan in the group stage coupled with a rain-enforced washout against Ireland.
It opened the Super Eights with a narrow defeat to South Africa on Wednesday, before suffering a heavy defeat by West Indies on Friday.
“Have we run out of steam? I guess you could say that,” Jones admitted. “We didn’t have a good last two games and we can talk about that for sure. That’s how it goes sometimes. We really enjoyed the World Cup.”
England now await their semifinal opponent with the outcome of the game between West Indies and South Africa later on Sunday set to determine who will top Super Eight Group 2.
The winners will face off against two of India, Australia, Afghanistan or Bangladesh in the semifinals before the final in Bridgetown on June 29.
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(Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)