Aaron Johnson or Rohit Sharma - which was the better innings in New York at T20 World Cup 2024?
New York has proven to be a tough place for batting in the T20 World Cup 2024 tournament. The newly built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has a bowler-friendly surface, where pacers of all teams have achieved enormous success.
Seven matches have been held in New York so far, and not a single team has touched the 140-run mark in the T20 World Cup 2024 games played here. It shows that the batters have found it difficult to get going. Even after settling down in the middle, the batters have struggled to increase their strike rate.
Only four batters have crossed the 50-run mark in matches hosted by New York. Two of them are India's captain Rohit Sharma and Canada's opener Aaron Johnson, with both batters scoring 52 runs. While Rohit had to retire hurt after scoring 52 against Ireland, Johnson lost his stumps to Naseem Shah when he was on 52 against Pakistan.
In this article, we will have an in-depth look at the innings played by the two batters, and who played the better innings in New York.
Aaron Johnson smashed 4 fours and 4 sixes in his entertaining knock of 52
Speaking about Aaron Johnson's innings first, the Canadian opener scored 52 off 44 balls. He opened the batting with Navneet Dhaliwal. However, his opening partner departed after scoring four runs. Even the next four batters got out for single digits.
Johnson did not give up though. He fought like a lone warrior, smacking four fours and four sixes in his 44-ball knock. The Canadian opener took 39 balls to complete his half-ton. The highlight of his innings was the extraordinary slap shot against Haris Rauf, which helped him hit a six over deep cover.
Johnson finished with a strike rate of 118.18. He had 66% control while facing the Pakistan pace attack in the T20 World Cup 2024 match hosted by the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Rohit Sharma played fantastic pull shots to destroy Ireland in the T20 World Cup 2024 match
Talking about Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's innings now, the right-handed opener smashed four fours and three sixes against Ireland. He had a strike rate of 140.54, much better than Aaron Johnson's 118.18. Plus, Rohit batted in the second innings, and India lost Virat Kohli early in the chase.
Although Ireland tried to trouble Rohit by introducing left-arm pacer Josh Little on a pacer-friendly surface, the Indian skipper fearlessly smashed him for three sixes and a four during his innings. Rohit has struggled against left-arm pacers in the past, but he played pull shots brilliantly against Little.
Ireland were clueless when Rohit made Nassau County International Cricket Stadium feel like a batter-friendly venue. Unfortunately for the Indian skipper, he got hurt on his shoulder before he could finish the match. He had to retire hurt, but India won the match because of his knock, where his control was 51%.
Considering the strike rate and eventual match result, Rohit Sharma's innings was better than Aaron Johnson's performance in T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.