Harmeet Singh leads the US in the series series over Canada

After convincing wins in their first two matches, with Wednesday's third T20i canceled due to a wet outfield, USA took the field on Friday with a chance to rule out the possibility of a draw with Canada in what was originally a five-match series.

All eyes would be on Corey Anderson as the former New Zealand world record holder for fastest ODI innings would make his debut for the US in place of Andries Gous, who is battling a leg injury. For Canada, wicketkeeper Sreyas Movva would take the place of Wijeyaratne.

The US can boast five half-centuries and 20 wickets heading into the penultimate match of the series, as comprehensive a victory as the US against Canada in T20i. But there was no doubt on Friday that Harmeet Singh was the standout performer in the series clinch game. And luckily for the US, standing out is something Harmeet Singh is used to.

A deserved reputation

Harmeet first made waves in the US as one of three members of India's 2012 U19 World Cup winning squad recruited to move to the US ahead of the inaugural year of Minor League Cricket, along with Unmukt Chand and Smit Patel . A look at his Minor League statistics shows that he ranks 17th all-time in wickets, with 43 in 40 matches, at an economy of 5.51, along with 558 runs at 165.09 in 31 innings with the bat .

These are great numbers for T20 cricket, but these numbers need to be put into context to truly appreciate Harmeets' impact. For three seasons at MiLC, Harmeet achieved these figures in the toughest division of the competition. During his first two seasons, Harmeet was captain of the Seattle Thunderbolts. There, along with American teammates Shadley Van Schalkwyk and Andries Gous, he won the 2022 MiLC National Championship. But the Thunderbolts barely made it to the postseason in the loaded West Division.

Six weeks into the regular season, the Thunderbolts stood at 7–3, thanks to back-to-back losses to Unmukt Chand and defending champion Silicon Valley Strikers, and were two points behind the East Bay Blazers in the standings and one behind in net run rate. . With four games remaining, Seattle had only a 30% chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

Two wins the following weekend kept Seattle two points behind East Bay. In those two matches, Harmeet batted sixth, keeping both innings not out for a total of 37 runs from 19 balls. So far in Harmeets' MiLC career, he had scored a total of 239 runs from 72 balls across 16 innings, having crossed 25 runs only three times with zero half-centuries. His numbers were so good that no one questioned his ability, but he had never really carried much of a burden with his bat.

Despite the two wins, Seattle's chances of making the playoffs had dropped to 26% as they still trailed East Bay in net run rate. With the Blazers set to face cellar dwellers Hollywood for their final game, it was clear that Seattle would have to overtake East Bay in NRR if they wanted to qualify for the playoffs. And while East Bay was looking for a likely easy win, Seattle would have to beat the Golden State Grizzlies, the previous season's Pacific Conference finalists, twice.

In the first game, clutch bowling from Harmeet and Shadley would help keep GSG at 122, and Seattle would chase down the target in 11.5 overs. But just eight minutes earlier, East Bay had defeated Hollywood by nine wickets, chasing the 108 target in 11.2 overs. This meant Seattle would have to close a Net Run Rate gap of .40 in the final game of the regular season.

In that final match, after holding the Grizzlies to 110/8 in the first innings, Seattle would have to successfully chase within 8.4 overs to advance to the play-offs. After Andries Gous fell on the first ball of the second over, Harmeet put one on to carry the load for his team. Harmeet scored 45 runs off 13 deliveries, and thanks to support from fellow Seattle Orca Shubham Ranjane and Canadian Rayyan Pathan, Seattle crossed the line on the first ball of the eighth to earn their first playoff berth.

Harmeet followed with innings of 56 off 19, 37 off 12, 22 off 11 and 20 off 10, leading Seattle to the 2022 MiLC crown and firmly taking his place as the most dangerous all-rounder-spinner in MiLC.

Five months later, Major League Cricket's Seattle Orcas would name Harmeets as the first overall draft pick in MLC history.

In his first MLC season, Harmeet helped the Orcas to the league final, taking seven wickets in seven innings at an impressive economy of 7.13, but saw only three balls with the bat.

Friday International breakthrough

Harmeet Singh's effort on Friday was no different from what we have come to expect from a player who often wears his emotions on his chest. But Friday morning started bleakly for Harmeet. In Peter Della Penna's post-game interview, we learned that Harmeet's Player Of The Match appearance took place exactly three years after the death of his late mother.

A fast start for USA from Steven Taylor (39 off 24 balls) helped overcome Monank Patel's first series failure, after the captain was run out on the eighth ball of the innings, 2 off 2. Aaron Jones (15 off 14), typically the number of the US. four, would knock one down and team with Taylor for the remainder of the power play, before the pair would both fall to Dillon Heyliger in the seventh.

Milind Kumar and debutant Corey Anderson would add a glacial 31 over the next 35 balls before Milind would look to ease the pressure, flying a sloppy sweep attempt against Saad Bin Zafar straight into the lift shaft, allowing Movva to nestle underneath and in front the fourth wicket could go.

Jessy Singh would come in at number six, the most surprising tactical move of the innings. Only 14 runs would come from the next 15 balls until Harsh Thaker got Jessy Singh LBW for the fifth wicket. One run and two balls later, Corey Anderson would go with his back foot against Thaker and attempt to pull a wide and short delivery into the wind, finding the top third of his bat, lunged at midwicket.

Harmeet would come into the middle to join former Thunderbolt teammate Shadley Van Schalkwyk as the US struggled to get into gear, with Heyliger straining to unleash more short deliveries to the pair of left-handers.

A 17th place by six runs felt like a small victory as Heyliger had met his quota without further loss, but USA were looking behind par at 118/6 with only 18 balls to work with.

Harsh Thaker would continue from the other end in the 18th over, with two left-handed batters still in the middle, and Harmeet would find the center of his bat on the second ball of the over and never really lose it. The pair would add 19 runs to the total during the over, 18 of which came off Harmeet's bat.

A six from Shadley on the fifth ball of the 19th, and a four from Harmeet in the 20th would help add 11 from each over, and USA would end the innings with 159 on the board. The partnership of 48 runs in 28 balls had changed the nature of the game and given the US a defendable total.

Harmeet went on the attack in the fourth over of the chase. A slow start from Canada left them with just 15 runs, four of which came from leg byes. Aaron Johnson turned tires against Saurabh Netravalkar and Nosh Kenjige and managed just one single from nine balls.

On his first ball to Johnson, Harmeet's approach took him wide in his crease, and the left-hander turned in an arm ball, hit the pad in line with the stump, and the Canadian star was out LBW, leaving his team in a hole after he had just scored. one in ten.

Harmeet would strike again on the next ball, tempting Pargat Singh over the wicket with an identical wide approach as on the previous ball. This time, Harmeet's ball, though pitched at about the same spot, went wide of Pargat's edge and into Monank Patel's gloves, and the batsman was bowled out for the second wicket in a row.

Nicholas Kirton would survive the hat-trick ball and find a run from the inside edge of his bat to the leg side.

Harmeet would return in the 9th over for seven runs as the chase recovered. Nine overs would pass after the Pargat Singh wicket, with Canada finishing at 87/2 in the 13th. Dilpreet Baj was 50 off 36, and Kirton's support of 27 off 31 left Canada ready to challenge the target.

With Kirton rotating strike on middle, Monank would call on Steven Taylor for his fourth over of the innings. After three Canadian singles off the first four balls, Kirton would go for a big shot against the spin and Sky Taylor to Nisarg Patel at third man for the third wicket. Harsh Thaker would join in, having just scored 34 not out from 17 balls in game two.

Harmeet would dethrone the hot man Bajwa with the second ball of the over and bowl him clean as Bajwa leapt himself straight into yorker length. Movva would fall on the next ball, his first of the innings, LBW, thanks to another yorker length delivery on the stumps, and Harmeet would have his first international four-wicket innings.

Despite his excellent production in both competitions, Harmeet Singh has not had a four-wicket innings in Minor League Cricket or Major League Cricket. He now has one in just his third international innings for the US.

Canada saw a brave effort from captain Saad Bin Zafar and Dillon Heyliger after Harsh Thaker fell to Jessy SIngh on the second ball of the 19th over with Canada at 123/6. With 25 runs needed from the final frame, Canada was able to get 14, and the US won by 11.

For his bowling figures of four overs, eleven runs and four wickets, along with his batting contribution of 34* off 17, Harmeet Singh was named Player of the Match. Probably the first of many to follow.

You can follow USA Cricket action, news and analysis at Emerging Crickets weekly Big Innings podcast.

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