WorldT20

Afghanistan's progression to the semi-finals of the World Cup has been a remarkable and wholesome story

Opener Shai Hope blasted an unbeaten 82 as West Indies came back roaring to crush the United States of America by nine wickets in the T20 World Cup Group 2 Super Eight match here. After bowling out the USA for a mere 128 in 19.5 overs, the West Indies batters went all guns blazing from the word go to knock off the target in 10.5 overs to make 130/1, recording a comfortable win. The win improved West Indies' standing in the Group 2 points table. The Caribbean side, which had suffered an eight-wicket hammering from England on Wednesday, is now placed second with two points and a Net Run Rate of 1.814. Johnson Charles fell for a 14-ball 15 with a couple of fours early on but the pair of Hope (82 not out) and Nicholas Pooran did the job for their side, smacking the USA bowlers all around the park here at the Kensington Oval. Hope made a mincemeat of the USA bowling as the right-handed wicketkeeper-batter clattered eight sixes and four fours to make 82 not out from just 39 balls, with .

Fit-again pacer Jofra Archer expectedly returned after a one-year injury-forced hiatus, while rookie all-rounder Tom Hartley also made the cut in the 15-member preliminary T20 World Cup squad announced by defending champions England here on Tuesday. Archer last played for England in a T20 International series against Bangladesh in March last year. The 29-year-old was England's leading wicket-taker in that series with four scalps from three matches at an economy of 6.63. But since then, Archer has been forced to sit on the sidelines because of the recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow. "Jofra Archer has recovered from his right elbow injury and is named in the squad," said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in its media release. England will be led by Jos Buttler, who had guided them to the title in Australia in 2022. From January this year, Archer has been working intensely on his return including Sussex's pre-season camps in Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru, besides ..

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Both the teams need a victory to stay alive in the tournament.