USA clinched the 2021 ICC Americas Women's T20 Qualifier tournament title on Monday in Mexico City after finishing with a 5-1 record at the four-team event. 

Image credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna in Mexico City (Twitter @PeterDellaPenna)
 
Sindhu Sriharsha’s charges showed that a shock loss to Canada a day earlier was a minor speed bump as a disciplined team bowling display resulted in Argentina being bowled out for 47 before the opening pair of Gargi Bhogle and Shebani Bhaskar knocked off the runs in just 6.3 overs to clinch a 10-wicket victory for USA on the final day of the 2021 ICC Americas Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier at the Reforma Athletic Club in Mexico City. The victory secured the top spot on the tournament table for USA with a 5-1 record, one spot above 4-2 Brazil, and means USA will represent the region at the next ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier set to be held in 2022. 
 
“It means a lot,” said USA Women’s captain Sriharsha after the tournament victory. “We did back ourselves to come out here and win the trophy. Coming out here and being able to perform to our best and win 5-1, it means a lot for the girls going ahead to the global qualifier. It’s just amazing.” 
 


USA won the toss and chose to field first with two changes made to the side that lost to Canada. The key fast bowling duo of Suhani Thadani and Tara Norris recovered sufficiently enough from a bout of food poisoning that had kept them out of the Canada match to come back into the XI in place of Akshatha Rao and Laasya Mullapudi. 
 
Moksha Chaudhary became the fifth different USA player on the week to claim Player of the Match honors with her spell of 3 for 7 in four overs with a maiden, and it was her medium pace that got USA going in the field entering as a first change bowler in the fifth over. A top edge on an attempted pull was claimed safely by Sriharsha behind the stumps to dismiss Maria Castineiras for 4 to make it 10 for 1. Argentina captain Veronica Vasquez fell for 3 in the following over to Thadani, driving a catch to Geetika Kodali at mid-off. The wicket meant the 15-year-old Thadani briefly moved into the lead as USA’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Women’s T20Is in just her first tournament with her eighth scalp in five matches. 
 
But Uzma Iftikhar plugged away at the opposite end to retake the lead by the end of the day. The offspinner claimed Lucia Taylor for the first of her two wickets in the match, inducing a skied catch over midwicket in the ring claimed by Chaudhary for 1. Kodali then replaced Thadani and bowled Alison Stocks with a yorker for 2 in the 12^th over to make it 23 for 4. Mariana Martinez became Kodali’s second victim, driving a catch to Chaudhary again at mid-off for an innings best score of 10. 
 
Magdalena Esquivel became Iftikhar’s second victim in the match, playing back to a good length ball and trapped lbw for 2 to make it 27 for 6 in the 14^th. Albertina Galan fell three balls later for 1 as Sriharsha came out from behind the stumps to collect a delivery and relay to Norris at the bowler’s end after a mixup with Malena Lollo resulted in both players being at the same end. Chaudhary then came back at the death to cap her haul with two more wickets. The first came in the 17^th over when Constanza Sosa was bowled for 3 heaving across the line to make it 35 for 8. Lollo then pushed hard at a delivery in the fourth stump channel to give an edge behind to Sriharsha for 6. The final wicket came on the final ball of the innings as Sriharsha relayed to Kodali at the bowler’s end to deny an attempted second run for Sofia Bruno, resulting in Tamara Basile being runout for 4 to end Argentina’s innings on 47. 
 
Aside from Chaudhary’s team-leading haul, Iftikhar ended with 2 for 10 in four overs. Kodali claimed 2 for 13 in four while Thadani had 1 for 3 in three. Farooq ended with 0 for 7 in two overs while Norris returned 0 for 5 in three with a maiden. 
 
Bhaskar, who had struggled for form throughout the tournament, showed some promising signs as the team signed off on the event, muscling three boundaries through the leg side, including a pair of impressive sweeps, during her unbeaten 23 off 18 balls. Bhogle was resolute at the opposite end, finishing 17 not out off 22 balls including an impressive flick over wide mid-on for her only boundary. Bhogle struck the winning runs three balls into the seventh over off Sosa’s medium pace. 
 
In the day’s other match, Brazil produced an extraordinary one-run win defending a total of 48 against Canada. Needing three runs to win off the final over with five wickets in hand, Canada could not get across the line. After a dot ball on the first delivery bowled by Laura Cardoso, Krima Kapadia was runout at the striker’s end trying to complete a single to square leg by Mukhwinder Gill but was cut short by a relay from Daniella Staddon. Cardoso then bowled Hala Azmat and Hiba Shamshat before Sana Zafar skied a catch to point where Brazil captain Roberta Moretti Avery completed Cardoso’s hat-trick. With three still needed off the final ball to win and Gill back on strike having crossed in the air, the final ball was hit to midwicket where Nicole Monteiro relayed to wicketkeeper Evelyn de Souza to deny the second and would-be game-tying run for the second runout of the over. It completed a sequence of five wickets in five balls, the first time that has ever happened in men’s or women’s international cricket. 
 
At the post-tournament presentation, Canada’s Divya Saxena was named the Player of the Tournament and Best Batter after leading the run charts at the event. Cardoso was named Best Bowler after her final day hat-trick put her atop the tournament wicket-taker’s list. Evelyn de Souza of Brazil was named the Best Wicketkeeper while Brazil captain Avery was the runaway winner of the Best Fielder trophy.
 
USA Women now have three weeks at home before embarking on a tour of Zimbabwe for the ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup Qualifier, scheduled to begin on November 21.