A decade ago, Nosthush Kenjige moved back to the U.S. – his country of birth having been born in Alabama but raised in India – and worked as a hospital technician.

He was in his early 20s, embarking on a career while reacquainting himself with American life. But his passion for cricket never wavered and he was dedicated to qualifying as a cricketer for the U.S, which required 800 hours of coaching at the local level in order to fulfil International Cricket Council rules.

Kenjige had to do that around his full-time day job, but he was unperturbed and by 2019 the left-arm spinner made his ODI debut for the U.S. But Kenjige, who plays for MI New York in Major League Cricket, had a breakout at last year’s momentous T20 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S. when he took 3 for 30 as the underdog Americans stunned cricket power Pakistan in Dallas.

ForbesU.S. Stuns Powerhouse Pakistan At T20 World Cup In Seminal Moment For American CricketBy Tristan Lavalette

After the U.S’ amazing campaign on the big stage, where they reinforced the country’s status as cricket’s sleeping giant, there has been intrigue over whether they could build on the momentum. But some sceptics believed the adrenalin of hosting the World Cup fuelled them to great heights, an outlier in other words.

The U.S. appear to be making strides having won four of their last five ODI matches against strong Associate cricket nations Oman, Namibia and Nepal as they strive to qualify for the 2027 World Cup.

Their latest 57-run win against Oman was one of the finest and most remarkable in American cricket history after successfully defending the lowest score in a full men’s ODI.

It was achieved in the beautiful surroundings of the Oman Cricket Academy ground in Al Amerat, 15 km southeast of Muscat, nestled in a plateau with mountains in the backdrop.

But such a triumph seemed improbable after U.S.’ top-order was bamboozled by sharp spin on a turning surface. They sank to 31 for 5 as Oman’s stranglehold continued having dismissed the U.S. for 151 in a comprehensive seven-wicket victory just six days earlier.

But Milind Kumar produced belated fight and finished unbeaten on 47 to lift U.S. to 122. However, that mediocre total – with the Americans only able to bat 35.3 overs – appeared well short of being competitive with Oman seemingly set to chase with ease and claim a pivotal victory.

Even though Oman lost their openers early, they recovered to be well placed at 34 for 2, but lost a couple of more wickets to fall to 57 for 4 and it was game on. Up stepped Kenjige, who produced his best performance of his career to rekindle memories of the magical day in Dallas last June.

He claimed five wickets in four overs as Oman astonishingly lost 6 for 8 to be bowled out for 65 in an all-time calamity. The previous successful defence in a full unaffected ODI match was India’s 125 against Pakistan in 1985.

The teams also created history with spin used entirely across the 61 overs in the match – the first time in 4671 men’s ODIs that no pace or seam was bowled. It was Kenjige, who stole the show with career-best figures of 5 for 11 off 7.3 overs to be the hero for the Americans, who continue to rise in the cricket world.

It was a remarkable performance that Kenije could only have dreamed of when he returned home all those years ago.