The high intensity on the ground may not have given anything away, but the camaraderie between the India and USA players before and after the T20 World Cup Group A match on Wednesday was evident. And why wouldn't it be? The USA squad, after all, has seven players of Indian origin. Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh and Monank Patel have even shared the dressing room with some Indian players. But the sweetest moment came between Suryakumar Yadav and Aaron Jones.

Jones is a home-grown talent and one of the best batters in the USA team. He has shown that in the T20 World Cup with impactful knocks against Canada and Pakistan. He was given additional responsibility to lead the side against India as regular captain Monank Patel was out with a niggle.

Jones did a fabulous job marshalling his troops while defending 111 against a strong Indian batting unit. But the game rapidly shifted momentum in the last five overs, especially after USA were penalised by the stop-clock rule, which awarded India five penalty runs. From needing 35 off 30 balls, India's equation became run-a-ball in the last five overs after that incident.

Jones was visibly disappointed. Another factor that worked against USA was Suryakumar Yadav's class as a T20 player. He is not the No.1 T20 batter for nothing. His unbeaten 50 off 49 balls helped India reach home in 18.2 overs to enter the Super 8 stage with three wins in a row.

Apart from Suryakumar's adaptability on a difficult surface, what stood out was his sportsman spirit. After Shivam Dube (31* off 35) hit the winning runs off USA pacer Ali Khan, Suryakumar was seen consoling Jones with a side hug and a pat. The USA batter shook Surya's hands and acknowledged the India batter's gesture.

Suryakumar Yadav curbs natural instincts to win India the match vs USA

Suryakumar Yadav was in alien territory in the T20 World Cup Group A match against the USA. The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium was anything like the surfaces he is used to bat in T20 cricket. It was slow, sticky, and two-paced. If the bowlers hit just short of a good length area, it became near-impossible for batters to hit the big shots. The big square boundaries added to their woes. Even ones and twos were a luxury at times.

Moreover, Surya's previous two attempts at this venue were nothing noteworthy. He had managed a four-ball two against Ireland and followed it up with a 7 off 8 balls against Pakistan. On both occasions, he was done by the slowness of the pitch. This has been a perennial issue for Surya in his attractive white-ball career.

With no Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma gone as early as the third over of the match, the onus was on Surya to gun down the target. He curbed his natural instincts to good effect. Surya decided to dig deep and worked the ball in the gaps instead of relying on boundaries alone. He stitched a 29-stand for the third wicket with Rishabh Pant before the India keeper was bowled by an Ali Khan delivery that kept low. The match-winning partnership came with Shivam Dube. Surya and Dube put on an unbeaten 67 runs to help India win the match by 7 wickets.

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