The US cricket team made more history by reaching the second round in its Twenty20 World Cup debut after failing in its final group match against Ireland on Friday.
Rain meant the match at Broward County Stadium was abandoned without a ball being bowled, moving the Americans into the Super Eight stage and automatically qualifying them for the 2026 Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
The USA only qualified for this T20 World Cup as co-hosts with the West Indies, but have used home advantage to make a stunning first impression in their first major cricket tournament.
While the Americans advanced from Group A along with undefeated India, former champions Pakistan and winless Ireland were eliminated from Super Eight contention.
Pakistan won the title in 2009 and reached two more finals, including at the last T20 World Cup in 2022. Pakistan has failed to advance out of the group stage for the first time. Ireland was also expected to pose a threat. The Irish also reached the second round on their debut in 2009 and repeated in 2022.
The competitive edge of the washout was enough for the US to advance after beating Canada in Texas and stunning Pakistan in Texas during the first week.
Binding Pakistan in regular overs and then beating them in a super over was one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
The Americans were defeated, as expected on Wednesday, by India, one of the title favourites, but the home team's progress without being able to play on Friday was still well deserved.
The umpires carried out four inspections of the wet outfield before heavy rain arrived around 1:30 pm local time and the match was called off three hours after its scheduled start.
The 17th-ranked USA joined West Indies, India, Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan in the Super Eight, with two more teams yet to qualify. The Super Eight, which starts on Wednesday, will be split into two groups, with each team guaranteed three matches to try to reach the semi-finals.
Nepal wins the toss
At Kingstown, St. Vincent, Nepal won the toss and elected to bowl in the later match against Group D leaders South Africa, the first international match between the teams.
South Africa has already qualified for the Super Eight stage after winning their first three matches against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. South Africa's first match in the Super Eight play-offs is against the USA in Antigua next Wednesday.
Nepal lost to the Netherlands in their opening match and the second match against Sri Lanka was rained out, meaning this will be the first match in ten days. It is also the first match of the tournament to be played in St. Vincent.
Nepal captain Rauhit Praudel said he opted to bowl first to take advantage of easier batting conditions in the second innings. Proteas captain Aiden Markram said he would have opted to bat first.
For the first time in the tournament, Nepal has been able to select its leading player, Sandeep Lamichhane. Lamichhane was convicted of rape in January and sentenced to eight years in prison. But his conviction was overturned by Nepal's Supreme Court in May.
His application for a visa to travel to the United States with the Nepalese team was rejected. But he has been able to join the team in St. Vincent, bringing the Nepalese squad to its full complement of fifteen players in the Caribbean.
New Zealand bowls first
In Tarouba, Trinidad, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl in a Group C match against Uganda. West Indies and Bangladesh have already occupied the two Super Eight qualifying spots available in the group.
New Zealand lost their first two matches at the tournament to Bangladesh and the West Indies and can no longer qualify. They are bottom of the group behind Uganda, who have two points from a win over Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand's failure at this tournament ends a string of white-ball World Cup successes. It has reached at least the semi-finals of the last six white-ball world tournaments over the past decade.
