It was their first defeat in the tournament. And the final score — India winning by 7 wickets — suggests that it was a one-sided affair.
But it was not the case.
The newcomers showed superb grit and determination and gave India a run for their money before succumbing to their first-ever defeat at the cricketing extravaganza.
Aided by a tricky surface at the Nassau Stadium in New York, the USA team gave their all and won hearts despite the defeat.
In chase of a below-par 111, India took 18.2 overs to cross the finish line and secure a spot in the Super 8s.
With nothing to lose, USA came out in all attack mode, defending 110 and tasted early success.
The third ball of the game saw left-arm Saurabh Netravalkar getting rid of star India batter Virat Kohli for his first ever golden duck in the T20 World Cups.
Stunning a sea of blue at the stadium, Netravalkar got Kohli to edge a delivery outside off to give India an early blow.
The left-arm pacer then struck again, first-ball of his second over, this time sending back India skipper Rohit Sharma for 3.
Stunned early in the chase, India found themselves reeling at 10 for 2 in the third over.
Last-match hero Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav then tried to steady the chase as the US bowlers kept the Indians under pressure with some superb bowling.
When it looked like India were back on course in chase, Pakistan-born pacer Ali Khan got rid of Pant for 18, once again putting pressure back on the chasing team.
With runs hard to come by on a bowling friendly surface, Suryakumar and Shivam Dube struggled really hard in the middle.
After the fall of Pant in the 8th over, India only managed a sole boundary till the final ball of the 14th over.
And in between that, Suryakumar also got a huge lifeline when he was dropped in the 13th over by Netravalkar at short third.
At the end of the 14th over in 111 chase, India were struggling at 67 for 3 as USA bowlers bowled their hearts out.
The 15th over finally saw India batters breaking the shackles with Shivam Dube whacking Corey Anderson to release the building pressure.
From there one India did not look back and both the set batters Surya and Dube looked at ease.
USA getting docked 5 penalty runs as they went past 60 seconds-mark to start a new over 3 times in the innings — new rule — also didn’t help their cause as India were now back in control.
With a flurry of boundaries, Surya and Dube wrapped up the chase in the 19th over.