Mumbai, February 7 Skipper Suryakumar Yadav steered India out of a difficult situation with an unbeaten 84, as the defending champions managed a below-par 161/9 against a spirited USA in their tournament opener here on Saturday.
Suryakumar impressed with a 49-ball innings featuring 10 fours and four sixes, single-handedly reviving India's chances after a stunning collapse saw them struggling at 77/6 in the 13th over.
Shadley van Schalkwyk, born in South Africa, returned with figures of 4-0-25-4 as India's renowned batting lineup, excluding Suryakumar, endured a dismal outing, struggling to restrict the USA to a low total.
The situation became critical when India failed to score on the first four balls, with the USA preventing the Indian batters from getting comfortable.
While Ishan Kishan (20) smashed a six off the fifth ball to get things going, the first blow to India came when Abhishek Sharma was out for a duck in the second over.
World No. 1 Abhishek hit Ali Khan's delivery straight to Sanjay Krishnamurthi at deep cover, and for the first of several times during the match, the Wankhede Stadium fell silent. The fielding set by US skipper Monank Patel was excellent, with fielders positioned strategically.
Tilak Varma (25) broke the deadlock when he hit a straight drive off Saurabh Netravalkar in the third over and followed up with three fours off van Schalkwyk in the next, suggesting that India were finally getting back into the game.
However, Ishan, having smashed Ali off his pads for a spectacular six, failed to capitalize on a dropped catch and hit a straight drive off van Schalkwyk on the first ball of the sixth over.
Van Schalkwyk couldn't believe his luck when Tilak missed a pull shot off a short ball, giving catching practice to US captain Monank Patel.
Shivam Dube (0) is no stranger to the Wankhede pitch, but the all-rounder was completely undone by a slow bouncer, failing to connect properly.
Looking completely out of sorts, Dube was caught in an awkward position during the connection, with the ball flying to Netravalkar at short fine leg.
Rinku Singh (6 off 14 balls) couldn't control his first attacking shot, which went straight to long-on off Mohammad Mohsin (4-0-16-1). Hardik Pandya (5) was dismissed by former Mumbai left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh (4-0-26-2) while trying to clear the sweeper cover, and Axar Patel (14) in his bid to get some late quick runs.
With the responsibility of getting India out of trouble falling solely on Suryakumar, he dug in deep to maintain the strike and rarely missed connecting on the shots that have been his trademark.
As the only Indian batter who fully understood the nature of the pitch, Suryakumar finally found his rhythm in the last two overs, scoring 34 runs, including 21 off Netravalkar.