T20 World Cup: Jordan bags hat-trick to put England in semis

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Barbados-born England all-rounder Chris Jordan snatched a sensational hat-trick at the ground on which he honed his early skills, as reigning champions England stormed into the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup with an emphatic 10-wicket win over lacklustre United States yesterday.

With the Americans already struggling on 115 for six at the end of the 18th over, Jordan produced his fireworks in the penultimate over when he claimed four wickets without conceding a run, dismissing Ali Khan, Nosthush Kenjige and Saurabh Netravalkar - all without scoring - with successive deliveries.

His first casualty of the over was the former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson (29) who punched a low full toss into the lap of long on, off the very first delivery.

The 35-year-old Jordan, who attended high school in Barbados and played two seasons of first-class cricket for the country, finished with four for 10 while leg-spinner Adil Rashid (2-13) and left-arm pacer Sam Curran (2-23) claimed two wickets apiece.

In reply, captain Jos Buttler put the USA attack to the sword with an unbeaten 83 off just 38 balls as England raced to their target with two balls left in the 10th over at the storied Kensington Oval.

"I think I started off by concentrating on the team," Jordan said in reference to his four-wicket burst at the end.

"Obviously, the hat-trick is definitely a special one - I'll come on to that in a second - but I thought the team performance was really solid today.

"The way we set the tone in the power play, we knew they were going to come hard. [They] played a few good shots but then the way Liam (Livingstone) and Rash (Rashid) controlled things for us in the middle, just set up things nicely for us at the back end and we were able to reap the rewards.

"But to get that hat-trick, obviously in a well-documented place that I was born, a place that I played so much cricket, in front of my family, my friends, the atmosphere, hearing the music going, everything, a nice day. It was a special one."

The victory carried England top of Group 1 on four points and with a net run rate of 1.99, South Africa lying second due to an inferior net run rate of 0.62 and West Indies third on two points with a net run rate of 1.81.

Sent in, USA did well to get up to 43 for one in the sixth over thanks to Nitish Kumar who top-scored with 30 off 24 balls with a four and two sixes, inspiring a 34-run, second-wicket stand with Steven Taylor (12).

Scores: United States 115 off 18.5 overs (Nitish Kumar 30; Chris Jordan 4-10); England 117 without loss off 9.4 overs (Jos Buttler 83 not out).