United States have won the toss and have opted to field

This is our team of Kumar Abhisekh Das, Raju Peethala, MS Ramakrishnan and Siva bidding you a booming high! The WC fever is just catching up...

Now as far as both teams are concerned. USA have had excellent grooming coming into this WC. They are fresh from beating Bangladesh in a T20I series. They are on a high and would want their campaign to start on a flying note. Canada under Zafar won't be meek pushovers as the neighbours don't believe in hostile receptions. The two neighbours don't have rich cricketing legacy as opponents but this can be a starting point. This is for two points. This is for North Americans to usurp Cricket as seamlessly as it has when it comes to Baseball and Basketball.

20 teams is the most in a WC edition and this is a superb platform for the lesser teams to stand up and be counted. If Papua New Guinea have tales and folklores of cricket to be added to their history, this is the right platform. If USA have another sport to conquer, they have a starting point here. If Nepal is full of mountains, they have a chance to scale the peak here in a different sport. If Uganda being a landlocked country can, then Namibia also wants its share of the headlines as well. If Scotland, Netherlands and Ireland can, England will have more esteemed company in Europe. This is the stage to rewrite history. This is the stage which provides you to be indelible. So, let the games begin!

18:15 Local Time, 23:15 GMT, 04:45 IST: The effusive YMCA came into existence in 1844. Another historic event happened in 1844. Two certain teams - USA and Canada - played the first known international cricket match in New York. Cut to 2024. The same two teams are on the verge of recreating history at Dallas in International Cricket's latest eye catching avatar - T20s. Hello and welcome to the 2024 T20 WC. Time for the North American fervour to grip the cricketing fraternity for a month. The showpiece event is happening in America for the first time and they have the West Indies who hosted it in 2010 as co-hosts this time. There are 20 teams in the extravaganza and the jamboree will keep shuffling between USA and the West Indies over the next month.

Preview by Smit Patel

180 years after what is widely regarded as the first ever international contest for any sport, USA and Canada are set to lock horns again in a marquee clash. USA routed Canada 4-0 in near empty grounds in April in Houston. However, the mega event opener in Dallas is expected to bring some fan fervour back to this age old rivalry, reminiscent of the sport's glory days during pre-civil war America.

There will be nerves. And plenty at that for turning out in front of a 7000 strong crowd for a majority of these players. The stadium din can be quite unsettling to someone used to playing in front of virtually non-existent crowds. America may well have an edge over their rivals with regards to crowd pressure with the likes of Corey Anderson and Ali Khan having plied their trade in much bigger arenas elsewhere. The rest of American squad also stands to benefit from playing an MLC season in front of packed houses in Dallas.

Canada, however, have slightly pulled ahead in terms of game time on the Dallas square leading up to the World Cup. Canada registered a clinical win in their first warm up game against Nepal before a hurricane gusted in to play a massive spoilsport, washing away their final warm up game and both of USA's scheduled warm up games.

But USA look a dangerous preposition in the wake of their historic series victory against a full strength Bangladesh. The induction of seasoned professionals like Corey Anderson, Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh has changed the entire complexion of the team. Gous' attacking intent in the middle overs coupled with the innate ability to find boundaries off good deliveries have been a change agent for the USA, unshackling them from an indolent mindset. Anderson and Harmeet's high quality all round abilities is an added luxury at USA's disposal, playing pivotal roles in the Bangladesh series.

USA batters ran riot over the inexperienced Canada bowlers in the April series, with the new ball bowlers costing more than 10 runs an over in the powerplay. To Canada's respite, senior left seamer Kaleem Sana, who was able to resolve his visa issues, and old war horse Jeremy Gordon, are back in their ranks to provide some stability with the new ball. Canada are already reaping the fruits of recalling experienced pro Ravinderpal Singh back into the mix. The big hitting right hander's fiery cameo of 41* off 17 deliveries provided a sluggish Canada innings a final knockout punch in their warm up victory against Nepal.

When: USA vs Canada, June 1: 7:30 PM Local, 6:00 AM IST (June 2)

Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, Texas

What to expect: The average batting score in 12 MLC games played at the venue last year was 167, while teams batting first have won 8 out of 12 games. The pitch generally has enough for the batsmen to be expressive in their stroke play. The new ball does tend to swerve around a bit under lights as well. Approaching its second season, the average first innings scores are expected to spike as the surface hardens up. The rain in the lead up to the games shouldn't play a role in determining the nature of the wicket as subsequent hot temperatures are poised to suck up any prevalent moisture.

Head to Head in T20s: USA 5 - 2 Canada

Team Watch:

USA

Convalescing from a supposed viral infection, USA captain Monank Patel chose against travelling with the team for the nets on the eve of the match. The USA batting mainstay, however, is expected to be fit in time for the opening encounter.

Probable XI: Monank Patel (c & wk), Aaron Jones, Steven Taylor, Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Jasdeep Singh, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh, Andries Gous, Nostush Kenjige/Shadley Van Schalkwyk

Canada

Canada number 3, Rayyan Pathan, retired hurt after just playing a solitary delivery against Nepal. There has been no news from Canada camp regarding his availability for the curtain raiser. The unavailability of the experienced Pathan will mean added responsibility for Canada's opening pair and batting mainstays Aaron Johnson and Navneet Dhaliwal.

Probable XI: Navneet Dhaliwal, Aaron Johnson, Pargat Singh, Shreyas Movva (wk), Ravinderpal Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Saad Bin Zafar (c), Kaleem Sana, Nikhil Dutta, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon

What they said:

"To be honest I'll say fearless cricket, positive cricket, smart cricket. I think that's what we're really and truly trying to do. We don't want to regret anything. We want to leave everything out there on the park. And then, obviously, if we come out on top, it's great. If we don't come out on top, that's how cricket goes sometimes. But we don't want to regret anything" - Aaron Jones, USA vice captain.

"At a national level like we are rivals - because we are from the same region. We tend to play against each other a lot. Most of the time it's in qualifiers where there's a lot on the line, whether it's ODI status on line or World Cup T20 qualifiers online. So, we both are competitive, but at the same time, we do play a lot of tournament and franchise cricket in the North American region. So, there's a lot of friendships between the two countries as well at the same time. And right now, because it's a World Cup, it's a grand stage, and both of the countries want to have the best of them over their opponent. I believe we're going to have a really good and really tough competition, and I believe both teams will entertain the crowd" - Saad Bin Zafar, Canada captain.

Squads:

United States Squad: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel(w/c), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Nitish Kumar, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Shayan Jahangir

Canada Squad: Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Rayyan Pathan, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Dilpreet Singh, Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar(c), Dillon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Rishiv Ragav Joshi, Junaid Siddiqui, Pargat Singh, Nikhil Dutta, Kaleem Sana