The United States national cricket team has advanced past the group stages of their first ever T20 Cricket World Cup after their scheduled clash against Ireland washed out. The result comes after a surprising run of matches for the United States, with their wins coming in their opening match against Canada and a historic upset of Pakistan after a tie-breaking super over.

After a close loss to India in Nassau Country in their third match, they needed to avoid a loss to Ireland to ensure qualification, as a defeat would have opened the door for Pakistan to leapfrog them in the standings with a win in their final match. The washout resulted in a point for both the US and Ireland, thus making the 3-point gap impossible to overcome for the South Asian side.

Buoyed by impressive performances by the likes of Aaron Jones and Andries Gous and Saurabh Netravalkar with the ball, the Stars and Stripes surpassed all expectations by reaching the second stage of the competition, dramatically boosting domestic interest in the game. Their upset of Pakistan was dubbed by many commentators to be the greatest in the history of the format, and the consistency of the team’s performances have many believing them to be a formidable T20 side for years to come.

The United States’ Super 8 group will include the likes of South Africa and the West Indies, as well as whoever out of Scotland or England advances out of Group B. A daunting lineup, by all means, but if this team has shown us anything thus far it is that they cannot be taken lightly against any opponent.