An hour before the match on Saturday, Jasprit Bumrah was bowling at the spring rubber stumps on one of the practice strips. There was no batsman, the stumps his only target. Bumrah was practising the yorkers.

One of the first balls he delivered pitched inches in front of the leg stump and missed. A whiff of dust rose from the Hampshire Bowl surface like steam from a kettle. It showed how hard and fast Bumrah had pitched the delivery. Immediately Bumrah walked to the exact spot where the ball had pitched and smoothed the turf. The next ball, and a few more after that, Bumrah would pitch accurately and bend the stumps back.

This art of bowling a yorker at will is something that makes Bumrah such a dangerous bowler. He is also a dangerous bowler because he keeps improving every spell, every match, every testing situation. That yorker came in handy against Afghanistan as Bumrah saved India from the biggest upset on the biggest stage. If Afghanistan had beaten India it would have been one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.

India entered the tournament with the tag of not just the No.2 ranked ODI country and one of the tournament favourites. They also had the most complete and dangerous bowling attack. In Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav India contain three bowlers that can determine the fate of the opponent in a matter of deliveries.

WATCH on Hotstar (India only) - Bumrah's double wicket maiden

No other team in this tournament carries three strike bowlers who are as gifted and dangerous as these three men. Not Australia the defending champions. Not England, the hosts, the No.1 ODI team and the initial favorites. Not New Zealand, the perennial bridesmaids.

No other captain in this tournament has the luxury to indulge in such bowling riches as Virat Kohli. Against Afghanistan, Kohli needed his three musketeers to hit bullseye. And they did. Kuldeep might not have taken wickets, but his 10-over spell was effective because he kept the Afghanistan batsmen guessing with his left-arm wrist spin.

But it was Bumrah and Chahal who Kohli turned to frequently each time he found the match on a knife edge - which was virtually throughout the Afghanistan innings. Defending a small total on a big ground with a fast outfield meant the room for error was bare minimal.

Mohammed Shami and Bumrah bowled fierce spells from either end leaving Hazratullah Zazai and Gulbadin Naib restless. Zazai, one of the most powerful hitters in world cricket, buckled under pressure as he went for a mighty swing against Shami's angled delivery.

However, Naib in the company of Rahmat Shah, Afghanistan's best Test batsman, showed composure. They even attacked Hardik Pandya in taking 20 runs in his first 2 overs. However, Chahal and Kuldeep got into the act swiftly, posing difficult questions for the batsmen who were tentative to charge the spinners.

Kohli brought back Hardik, who hit hard lengths into the body of Naib before he eventually top edged. Hardik then challenged new man Hashmatullah Shahidi by bowling a tight line and pitching on lengths where the batsman had to play. Hardik would end up bowling a maiden.

Kohli rotated the bowlers cleverly as the asking rate climbed to nearly six an over at the halfway stage with Afghanistan needing a further 134 runs. Surely not insurmountable. But could Rahmat and Shahidi sustain the growing pressure? Their partnership was steadily inching towards the 40-run mark when Bumrah returned.

ALSO READ: How Mohammad Nabi almost hustled a big upset for Afghanistan over India

In the past matches Kohli has also turned to Bumrah to deliver a mini two-over spell in the middle overs as a shock treatment against opposition. Bumrah bowled the first half of his second over back with a length and angle that was fuller. But then he bowled shorter to Rahmat, who top edged while attempting a pull. Two balls later Bumrah pitched a sharp short-of-a-length delivery measuring 87mph to surprise Shahidi who offered a meek return catch. The match suddenly turned on its head.

Two new batsmen at the crease meant Afghanistan had to restart. They once again had to find the resolve and the skills to keep rotating the strike. India were aware of the danger of Mohammad Nabi posed. Nabi has the experience and the patience as well as the power to hit the big strokes. However, India were aware as long as the run flow was slow, the pressure would always remain on Afghanistan.

With 40 runs needed from the last five overs, Kohli asked Chahal to bowl his final over. Rashid Khan reverse swept Chahal for a four, giving India a fright. But the next ball, Chahal spun a perfect leg break that started on a middle-stump line, urged Rashid to play and then drifted away nicely. It was 50mph. Having committed to the push Rashid found himself over balancing and beaten by the turn, giving enough time for MS Dhoni to whip off the bails. On a pitch where he had seen Rashid and the other two Afghan spinners bowl slower and slower, Chahal himself varied his pace to pose questions for the batsmen.

Kohli had worked out the plan accurately with Dhoni which involved Bumrah returning to finish his remaining two overs including bowling the penultimate over of the match. "In the end the communication was to finish him [Bumrah] off at 49 so that Shami has enough runs to defend in the last over. The plan worked out well today," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

Bumrah, who was swung for a huge leg-side six by Nabi in the 47th over, would end up conceding just five runs in his final over, leaving Shami to defend 16 runs off the last. Shami was playing his first World Cup match but his opening spell, Kohli said, was the best by any of the bowlers on the day as he was relentless with that upright seam. He would seal Afghanistan's fate with three deliveries that would put him in history books with a hat-trick.

Yet it was Bumrah's three spells that denied Afghanistan a fairytale finish. Bumrah summed up succinctly the vital difference in India pipping Afghanistan. "What we wanted was to create pressure by taking the run rate high," he said. "As soon as the run rate goes up they'll create chances. That was the plan. And it was a good day. It worked.

"The wicket was getting slower and slower so with the older ball it was necessary to be accurate and bowl stump-to-stump. There is a bit of reverse swing as well so you rely on your yorkers. It was a tight game and I was backing my yorkers."

The beauty about Bumrah or Shami or Chahal, or even Hardik and Kuldeep, was they believed collectively and bowled accurately. When it mattered they proved India have the most dangerous bowling attack this World Cup.

The things we remember.

Carlos Brathwaite lives with the burden of three words spoken more than three years ago. "Remember the name," screamed - justifiably - Ian Bishop into the microphone as Brathwaite hit Ben Stokes for four straight sixes in the final over of the World T20 final in Kolkata to win a lost title.

Three years later, at Old Trafford, Brathwaite is facing Matt Henry, whose World Cup so far reads: 42.2 overs, two maidens, 211 runs and eight wickets. That is an economy of just under five and an average of 26.38. Tonight has been an off night for him. He has gone for 51 in his eight.

Brathwaite - 74 off 70 - has a No. 11 for company. There is 33 required off the last three overs. Brathwaite gets a top edge for two, but then unleashes mayhem. Three straight sixes. Three morale-crushing, soul-destroying sixes for the bowlers. Henry is trying to execute a plan. A short-of-a-length ball has flown over long-on. A wide yorker - slightly off the mark - has flown over point. By the next one Henry is a wreck and offers a full toss.

WATCH on Hotstar (India only) - Brathwaite's remarkable century

Stokes is reminded of that night three years ago by his mentions, but Brathwaite is not reminded of it. He is thinking of his struggling team, his coach - who is remembered as the captain who led them to a series defeat against Bangladesh and now needs this win as coach, his own fledgling career. Since that Kolkata final, he has played 158 innings in official cricket - all first-class, List A and T20 cricket - and has reached fifty only five times. There is no innings in the last three years to remember him by.

First it was Virat now it's @TridentSportsX is clogging up my mentions,I wonder why???that was a unbelievable innings Carlos thought it was going to be a repeat of 2016 in Kolkata...how good was that game by the way

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) June 22, 2019

"Remember the name" has become a bit of a joke whenever Brathwaite's name comes up. That match is the last thing he remembers right now. He remembers the defeat to Afghanistan that came before the win in the final. Bet you don't. Bet you don't believe this ever happened to him. West Indies need 10, seven balls to get, tail for company. Brathwaite taps a full toss for a single to leave himself nine to get in the last over. He fails.

Brathwaite remembers his dismissal to Mitchell Starc this World Cup. They need 47 off 28, and he is trying to be responsible. He lobs up a full toss from Starc instead of smacking him. He can't clear mid-on. It haunts him. This is what happens in cricket. You fail more often than you succeed. You can end up remembering failure more than success.

So it is these things that have gone through Brathwaite's mind as Jimmy Neesham bowls an over full of bouncers. West Indies need six off seven. He still has a No. 11 for company. He has to decide whether to look for one or hit a six. If he misses with the big hit, does he trust Oshane Thomas to get him back on strike? In a 41-run stand, Thomas hasn't scored a run. All he has had to do is get bat on ball. Just stay there. Somehow not get out. Does he take a single, repeat what he has done and failed before, or does he go for the big hit and then risk having Thomas on strike if he misses or if he even hits a four?

Brathwaite remembers what happened when he didn't go for the six. He tells Thomas to be on the "high alert" for the single, but if it is in his zone, he is going for the six. "Stay still, react to the ball; don't premeditate; if it is not in your zone, get single; if it is, maximise and get a six."

Same man Bishop is on air, Brathwaite is still in his stance, bat held high, ready to pounce on an error, Neesham continues with the short ball, Brathwaite gives it all he has got. The ball goes up in the air towards the long-on fence.

**

So you enjoyed the game? The chaos. The nerves. The possibilities. The glory. The heartbreak. You felt emotions. Raw emotions. You loved and hated cricket at the same time. Now it is time to appreciate how deliberate and precise these extraordinary cricketers can be in such tense, nervous, chaotic, emotional times.

Brathwaite has lost No. 10 Sheldon Cottrell to a beauty from Lockie Ferguson, who has been amping the pace up all tournament. This is the end of the 45th over, West Indies still have 47 to get. Brathwaite meets Thomas and tells him the next two overs are going to be bowled by Trent Boult and Ferguson. They are also going to be their last overs. If they can survive that, they can target the last three. Brathwaite tells him to forget about scoring. Just defend your wicket with your life. He tells Thomas if they can bat through those two overs, they will need around 30 off the last three overs. They need 33.

Brathwaite makes sure Thomas faces only four of these 12 balls. He has planned everything out perfectly. He believes he can now do it is sixes, and he has started to do it.

The man bowling the 49th over, Neesham, almost gave up cricket. He was in a funk over many issues, one of which was coming to terms with not getting results that match your effort. In other jobs there is usually a tangible result. In cricket, you need to be philosophical about the outcome because of the luck and many other variables involved. He has come back at peace with results. This is a time when you do with the newfound philosophical attitude, but that doesn't mean you leave it to luck. You plan the hell out of it.

ALSO READ: Jimmy Neesham interview - 'Once you realise you'll survive without the game, you'll enjoy it for what it is'

The plan then is: if you try a yorker, forget about the game. Brathwaite needs eight off 12, and these modern batsmen spend hours trying to hit low full tosses or full balls for sixes. Brathwaite has already shown bowling full is a no-go. Neesham has one advantage Henry didn't: from this end, the leg-side boundary is big. So he and Williamson talk. Nothing in the wheelhouse. Not even on a length. Stack the leg-side field and make him pull or hook.

Now there is a fine line between a good bouncer and a wide ball on height. And you can bowl only two of those above the shoulder. You are taking inches here. Neesham knows he has another advantage here. Brathwaite is close to six-and-a-half-feet tall. So he tells himself he is going to try to get it as high as he can, which at his pace might only be to the shoulder and the chin. He has mid-on and mid-off up; he reckons there could be a catch there.

The first ball is slightly off, but it is still short enough to not let Brathwaite get under it. He can't drive it, he can't hook it, but this only draws a defensive shot. The next two are proper bouncers. One of them is called one for the over, Neesham thinks. Some feel neither of them is. Be that as it may, New Zealand now feel they have done too much of the same thing. The line for all three is outside off, and that is the plan. To make him drag it across and hopefully top-edge. These three balls have gone exactly according to a pin-point plan. Just as Brathwaite has gone with his.

Now they bring the cover up, and send long-on back. They are telling Brathwaite if he plays the inside-out shot over the covers, he is the better man and deserves the win. But they also covering the long-on fence because he might be lining him up. And with the field change, Neesham changes the line, moving it towards the stumps. There is no error. Only precision. Brathwaite gets the better of the first one, pulling it to deep midwicket, where Martin Guptill is not at his absolute best and lets Brathwaite steal the strike again.

The couple allows a momentary break in the tension. Brathwaite celebrates his hundred, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Latham even claps him, and it is back to business again. Now Neesham is back to the bouncer. He rolls his wrist on this one. Beats Brathwaite. He looks nervously at the umpire for a signal that he believes could bar him from bowling another bouncer. The umpires show they are extremely precise too. They see the slower bouncer has dipped enough when crossing the batsman for it to not be called one for the over. Replays back them up. Everybody is on top of his game here.

Neesham now knows he has a bouncer in the tank. He is going to bowl it. Brathwaite, waiting for any change-up, knows deep within it is going to be a bouncer. Neesham knows he has had some success at making Brathwaite make more decisions than he wants to, but he doesn't know of the demons inside Brathwaite's head. He still believes Brathwaite is going to go for a six because as a batsman he knows when you are striking so cleanly and you are just one shot away, it is tempting to back yourself to do that one more time.

Same man Bishop is on air, Brathwaite is still in his stance, bat held high, ready to pounce on an error, Neesham continues with the short ball, Brathwaite gives it all he has got. The ball goes up in the air towards the long-on fence.

Neesham knows this is not sweetly connected. "There is a pretty distinct sound when the West Indies boys connect." Imagine the intimidation when you know the hits sound different. This one, though, is not out of the screws, but Neesham also knows Brathwaite doesn't need to nail it to get it over the fielder.

**

If he doesn't do anything else the rest of his cricketing life, Boult can retire with a perfectly acceptable and exciting highlight reel of stunning - ridiculous, really - catches. He has failed to add to it this evening. Running back, keeping an eye on the ball as he does, diving full length, but failing to latch on to a top edge from Chris Gayle. Gayle has unleashed carnage after that. If Boult had added to the highlight reel, we wouldn't have come down to this.

But we have come down to this. Boult is the man sent back to the long-on fence on the fourth ball of the 49th over. They are expecting Brathwaite to take that man on if he wants to go for a six. That man, though, is expecting Brathwaite to tap it for one and take on five off the last over. Boult doesn't even know who is going to bowl the 50th over if that happens. Perhaps even captain Kane Williamson doesn't.

Brathwaite doesn't wait for it, though. This one is not short enough to a proper bouncer, and Brathwaite feels this is his ball. The line is straighter than earlier, which cramps him up a touch, which means he doesn't time it sweetly, but remember he doesn't need to. He can mis-hit sixes, but these are not small boundaries. Okay the straight one is shorter than the square ones, but Old Trafford is not a small playing field.

Boult thinks it is going to land "quite a way inside the rope", but he is surprised by the power Brathwaite has got on it. He back-tracks a little, and parks himself near the rope, but you can see he is not on the edge because of the slight initial misjudgement. He times his jump perfectly, overhead and to his right, both hands to it, and looks immediately at the rope. He is ready to do the old trick of lobbing it up, stepping out and coming back in to take the catch. Guptill, from deep midwicket, has come around in case Boult wants a relay catch. As it turns out he is well in - well it is only a couple of metres, but in this precise environment it is a comfortable margin.

Same man Bishop is on air. "The dream is diminished for Carlos Brathwaite," he screams.

**

Could Brathwaite have taken the single off the last ball? Could Klusener have waited another ball all those years ago? Could Steyn have bowled a yorker or a bouncer instead of length in the semi-final four years ago?

These are questions we on the outside will debate more than those who make them. Or at least that should be the case. For often, there are no right or wrong decisions at such times. Both have equal merit. What matters is how clearly you execute the decision you make. Most professional dressing rooms analyse these situations that way. Brathwaite's dressing room too. He is not going to beat himself up over choosing to go for it. Nor should he.

**

Brathwaite is down on his knees. You wonder what he is thinking in that moment. Is he at all? He says he is not even aware of his senses enough to register the congratulations and commiserations from the graceful New Zealand players. Ross Taylor is the first one to go to him. He is on his knees at this time, his sinking head kept afloat only by his bat handle. We are humans too, Taylor says. We felt sorry for him. Brathwaite is honest enough to admit it didn't mean much at all at that time, but he knows New Zealanders are "some of the best people" to be opponents or team-mates with.

Brathwaite is more honest about his feelings about the century. It is a cliché to say it doesn't mean anything if it doesn't result in a win, he says. This one has taken a lot of pressure off him. To know he can bat, to know how he should bat, but not having done it for a long time has been killing him. "It is a result of all the hard work I put in. It is finally good to see it come to fruition."

And yet, the dream is diminished. The things we will remember.

Carlos Brathwaite was dropped for West Indies' last match. There is a good chance he wouldn't have been playing at Old Trafford had Andre Russell not been unfit. It wouldn't have been a particularly harsh decision because Brathwaite had scored only five half-centuries in 158 innings since his sensational four sixes to win West Indies a lost World Twenty20 final back in 2016.

Yet, with the World Cup dream all but over, Brathwaite reignited West Indies' hopes with a scarcely believable century to bring them within five runs of New Zealand's total. He was caught on the boundary trying to clear long-on off the last ball of the 49th over. After the knock, a shattered Brathwaite was honest in saying the knock meant him a lot even if it left him feeling bittersweet.

WATCH on Hotstar (India only) - Brathwaite breathes fire with 101

"It is a cliché to say that it doesn't matter if you don't win, but for me personally, for my confidence, it is a result of all the hard work that I put in," Brathwaite said of his first international century. "It is finally good that it has come to fruition. I continue to work hard. Obviously heartbreaking to not get over the line but I give thanks for the performance and being able to get the team in the position that I was able to."

Brathwaite came in to bat at 142 for 4, and scored 101 of the remaining 144 runs that West Indies managed. With a stunning 25-run assault against Matt Henry in the 48th over, he brought the equation down to eight runs required off the two overs.

"When I lost [Sheldon] Cottrell, then Lockie [Ferguson] had one over to go and [Trent] Boult had one to go," Brathwaite said. "And the thinking was if we see them off, we can get 30 in three overs."

Now the equation was manageable, but he had only the No. 11 Oshane Thomas, who was yet to score a run, for company. Jimmy Neesham, bowling the 49th over, said they wanted Brathwaite to make more decisions now. The final - as it turned out - decision was whether to look for a single last ball of the 49th over or a six. If he got a single, he would have retained strike with five to get in the final over. If he missed while going for a six - or even if he got four - New Zealand would be able to have a crack at Thomas.

As it turned out, Brathwaite went for a six, and was caught a few metres inside the long-on boundary. "I did tell Oshane about it [the possibility of a single]," Brathwaite said. "Told him we remain positive. We are one hit away. Probably memories came back of 2016 when I played a game against Afghanistan [in the 2016 World T20] and patted a full toss for a single instead of hitting it for a six. My thinking was still: watch the ball, still react, and if it is not a ball that I can get a six off, I try to get a single. He was on high alert, but if it came in my area I try and finish the game in that ball, which I did."

Brathwaite came very close, though. "I thought I had enough bat on it," he said. "Unfortunately it didn't. Also it went to probably one of the better fielders in the world as well. So, yeah, it is what is. A game of margins. One or two yards more, we could be victorious."

Brathwaite said it should not be too difficult to move on from the decision he made. "The best dressing rooms create a culture where when you pinpoint any incident, any game, there is [talk around] planning and execution," Brathwaite said. "The plan was right: obviously stay, reacting to the ball, don't premeditate, if it is not in your zone, get single; if it is, maximise and get a six. And the execution was off. In the game against Australia as well, I got out to a slow full toss from Starc, kind of haunted me as well. Again it is execution. Back to the drawing board. Probably get some other options to similar ball. I am not going to beat myself up because the ball should have gone for six, and we should have won."

It was "heartbreaking" that it didn't end West Indies' way, but there was also personal relief. "I know I can [bat well], I know I should," Brathwaite said. "I never stopped working, I kept working hard. It's great to see hard work pay off. At the end of the day it is a century in a losing cause, which is bittersweet."

His captain Jason Holder wasn't surprised he delivered the runs. "His work ethic is really good," Holder said of Brathwaite. "He's not one to shy away from his responsibilities. And he puts in really good effort into his preparation. And that's one thing that I credit him for. The knock that he played today is not surprising to me.

"I guess everybody could sit here and agree that we'd love to see that a little bit more often. But that's the general feeling within the entire group. I think as a team we just need to be a lot more consistent. But seeing Carlos play the way he did doesn't really surprise me. Just a matter for us to bring it together more often."

The feeling of awe was on both sides. New Zealand didn't waste any time in going to congratulate and commiserate with Brathwaite moments after the win was sealed. "New Zealanders are some of the best people in the world to share a dressing room with or to play against," Brathwaite said. "I obviously socialise with them at franchise tournaments and am good friends with a few of the boys. I guess it didn't mean much at that point in time because you are just getting over watching Boult take the catch and losing. In hindsight it was good sportsmanship on their behalf. I appreciate the mutual respect the opposition had."

As Mohammed Shami ran in to deliver the hat-trick ball in the final over against Afghanistan, he had MS Dhoni's words in mind. Afghanistan had begun that over needing 16 with three wickets in hand, and were now nine down, needing 12. Only one Indian - Chetan Sharma - had taken a World Cup hat-trick earlier, in 1987. This was Shami's chance to join an elite club. And he did it by nailing a perfect yorker on the base of leg stump. Mujeeb Ur Rahman backed away and swung blindly, only to miss it, and saw the stumps flattened.

"The fewer you have to defend, the more issues you face in executing, but knowing I had Jasprit Bumrah bowling [the 49th over] from the other end was good," Shami said soon after the match. "The hat-trick feels very special, that too getting it in a World Cup is a big deal. Before I bowled the last ball, I had MS Dhoni's advice in my mind. He told me, 'World Cup hat-tricks are rare, just bowl a yorker. This is your chance.' That's what I did."

WATCH on Hotstar (India only) - Fall of wickets

It was a moment Shami may have not envisaged a year ago. In June 2018, his central contract was withheld amid allegations of domestic violence by his wife. Then, there was a battle with his own body owing to niggles, even in the aftermath of an ankle surgery that saw him spend nearly a year on the sidelines.

When he finally regained fitness, he had put on a few kilos and even failed the mandatory yo-yo test. His pace dropped and he wasn't on the selectors' radar as far as one-day selection was concerned. There were question marks over his immediate future.

Shami hit the gym and focused on his diet in an effort to reduce weight. Gradually over time, the selectors brought him back into the mix for the ODIs against West Indies at home in October. Since then, there has been no looking back.

In March this year, Shami's improved fitness and work ethic even had Kohli awe-struck. "The way Shami has come back into the white-ball set-up after his Test performances, have never seen him so lean before. He has lost five-six kilos. He's running in and bowling so well," he said at the time. "He's hungry for wickets."

Looking back, Shami reflected on his improved diet as a big factor in his bowling rejuvenation. "This journey towards fitness has taken me two years," he said on Sunday after taking the hat-trick. "I was heavy after the injury, I used to feel tightness in my knee after long spells, so I knew I had to do something extra if I had to play for a longer time.

"I have cut down on my food, I follow a diet and people laugh about it when I tell them that. It's not strict but I avoid stuff doctors tell me to. I don't eat sweets or bread, it has helped me a lot."

On Saturday, his four-wicket haul and his bowling partnership with Bumrah was pivotal in India's 11-run win over Afghanistan that helped them remain unbeaten in the competition.

"I had 16 to defend thanks to your efforts," he told interviewer Bumrah in a chat on BCCI.tv. "I knew it gave me a chance to do something. It was also after a long time that we were bowling in tandem."

The start of Shami's final over seemed nervy as Mohammad Nabi clubbed him to the long-on boundary. Then with 12 to defend off five balls, he first had half-centurion Nabi, whose innings he described as "irritating", hole out to long-on before nailing two perfect yorkers to get rid of Aftab Alam and Mujeeb to seal victory.

"I felt the irritation when Nabi was batting, but we knew if we got him out, the match was ours," Shami said. "He was the only one capable [of winning it in the final over]. We didn't want to show our weakness in the face of his irritation. We just wanted to be aggressive and show intent."

Shami later revealed that bowling short to Afghanistan in the middle-overs had been part of India's plan, one that fetched them the key wickets of Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who fell to Bumrah. "It was a much better wicket in the first innings compared to the second," he observed. "The plan was to not bowl too full. They were a little doubtful with the bouncers, so the plan was to mix up our lengths with bouncers."

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After a meandering first 45 minutes, the United States made it two wins from two in the Gold Cup group stage, defeating Trinidad and Tobago 6-0 on Saturday night in Cleveland.

It had been 620 days since the U.S. was denied a place at the 2018 World Cup by the Caribbean nation, when the Americans were defeated 2-1 on the final day of qualifying for the competition. U.S. players this week played down the notion that they'd be seeking revenge for that loss, but their victory was physical throughout and occasionally tempers flared.

"Every time we step on the field we want to make a statement," said U.S. forward Gyasi Zardes, who scored twice and barely missed a third. "We're trying to change the way the world views American soccer."

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Zack Steffen was the first goalkeeper to be seriously tested, when he was forced to punch away a rasping drive from Trinidad's Khaleem Hyland nine minutes into the contest. But it was Hyland who came off worst, pulling up lame after his shot and would be unable to continue, subbed off for Kevin Molino barely a quarter hour into the game.

The two sides exchanged chances throughout the first 40 minutes, though neither truly had an edge before Aaron Long broke the deadlock with four minutes to go in the first half. He got his head on the end of a whipped cross from Christian Pulisic, sneaking his effort underneath goalkeeper Marvin Phillip in his first of two goals on the night.

And much like the the group-stage win over Guyana on Tuesday, Gregg Berhalter's men struggled to dictate the terms of the contest in the first half, only to gain momentum after the interval.

Twenty-one minutes into the second half, Zardes scored his second goal of the Gold Cup, when Nick Lima's header across the box fell to the Columbus Crew forward to tap in. He added his second of the night three minutes later, shaping a shot past the outstretched arms of Phillip and into the top corner.

Barely three minutes later, he was denied his hat trick twice in quick succession, first striking the woodwork and then having a header kept out by a point-blank save from Phillip.

Pulisic made it 4-0 on 73 minutes, passing the ball into the far corner after substitute Jordan Morris picked him out in acres of space inside the area. Morris added another assist five minutes later, sending a ball across the six-yard box that Paul Arriola tapped in to make it a 5-0 lead.

Long wrapped up the scoring in the 90th minute, beating Phillip to a loose ball in the six-yard box and chesting into a gaping net.

"For us, we advance to the next round," Berhalter said. "That's important. Our focus was to prepare for this game knowing that if we'd be able to go to the next round. That was the focus of the group. Trinidad was in our way."

The agent for center Willie Cauley-Stein has encouraged the Sacramento Kings to allow his client to become an unrestricted free agent.

"I'm hopeful they will not even give Willie his qualifying offer," Roger Montgomery of Roc Nation Sports told the Sacramento Bee.

A former Kentucky star, Cauley-Stein has played all four of his NBA seasons in Sacramento since it took him sixth overall in the 2015 draft. With his rookie contract expiring this month, he would become a restricted free agent -- giving Sacramento the ability to match offers from other teams -- if the Kings first extend a $6,265,631 million qualifying offer by June 30.

"I really think Willie needs a fresh start," Montgomery told the Bee. "Based on how things have gone for him there in Sacramento, I just think it's time for Willie to move on and we'd really like him to move on."

Cauley-Stein, 25, holds career per-game averages of 10.1 points on 53.4 percent shooting to go with 6.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. He excels running the floor for a Kings team that likes to play at pace, giving Sacramento an athletic 7-foot center who can take some of the focus away from defenses, can pass the ball and can finish at the rim.

But consistency has been a trouble spot for Cauley-Stein. He started this past season by averaging 17.4 points in October, but his numbers dipped after that, including two months (February and April) in which he failed to average double figures in scoring.

The Kings issued a brief statement to the Sacramento Bee, saying, "Willie is a great player who has shown he can fit our style of play."

But Montgomery said the pieces were not fitting together for his client and cited turnover in both the Kings' roster and coaching staff. The Kings hired Luke Walton as head coach in April to replace Dave Joerger.

"We haven't felt that he's been able to get what has been necessary for him to be able to lead the franchise the way he wants to," Montgomery said. "We are very, very thankful for the opportunity that was presented to him, but we just think it's not working. It's not going to work. It's just time for a fresh start. We need a fresh start and maybe the Kings do, too."

The Minnesota Twins have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Cody Allen.

Allen was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels one day after he gave up four runs over 2/3 of an inning in a 9-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on June 14.

Allen had a 6.26 ERA over 23 innings in 25 appearances with the Angels and lost his closer role in his first season with the club.

Allen came to Los Angeles in free agency on a one-year, $8.5 million deal. He spent the previous seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians.

The 30-year-old righty had a run of five straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA before last year, when he had a 4.70 ERA for the Indians.

ST. LOUIS -- One of the amazing things about the return of Albert Pujols to St. Louis this weekend isn't about him at all. Before Friday, Redbird Nation had never gotten a first-hand look at the game's greatest player: Pujols' Angels teammate Mike Trout. Yet Trout's St. Lou debut barely caused a ripple in the flood of Albert love the past couple of days. You know it's a big deal when no one is paying attention to Mike Trout.

Maybe there is a good reason for that. St. Louis fans may never have seen Trout in person before, but they've certainly heard of his exploits and seen his unmatched career-to-date numbers. In fact, Trout may remind them of a certain former Cardinal, the one drawing more adulation along the banks of the Mississippi than Mark Twain.

Consider this an exercise in "you better appreciate what you got before it's gone." If Pujols were the same age as Trout right now, and you had to pick one or the other, whom would you take? It's Trout, right? You're probably on the money, but it's not as much of an open-and-shut case as you might think. To weight it objectively, you have to do your best to wipe away the Angels version of Pujols that we've seen the past few years from your consciousness. Try, if you can, to zero in on Pujols, circa 2007, when -- like Trout is now -- he was 27 years old.

First, consider this. Yes, Trout is considered baseball's best player right now by mass acclamation and he has held that unofficial title for several years. Earlier this year, I looked at the "best in the game" issue objectively, awarding the title to the top-ranked player by five-year win shares totals. The idea is that you don't lose your title because of an off-year, or a career season by someone else. It takes prolonged excellence to be considered baseball's king, and using rolling averages is a good way to model that effect.

By that method, Trout has been baseball's best player at the conclusion of each of the past five seasons, from 2014 to 2018. He leads the majors in most bottom-line value metrics so far in 2019, so it seems all but certain he'll retain his crown through this season.

There was a bit of anarchy at the top in the three seasons before Trout's ascension, with Andrew McCutchen, Robinson Cano and Miguel Cabrera each stealing the belt for a brief spell. Before that, Pujols was the titleholder, leading the way after each season from 2004 to 2010. In terms of king-fish status, Trout still has a couple more years to match the length of Pujols' reign.

As mentioned, Pujols' age-27 season was 2007, so when he was done with that campaign, he had been the game's top player for four years, and he had three more to go. We know that Trout will almost certainly still be considered the top player after this season. And it seems unfathomable that he'll relinquish the title any time soon. But you never know, right? Still, you would take your chances with a guy like that.

That's where Pujols was in terms of acclaim when he was Trout's age. He had been the game's best player for years and his performance record was virtually spotless. He was good at everything -- hitting for average and power, with discipline and in situations. He was the best in the game defensively at first base and was a tremendous baserunner. And he was right in the middle of his prime, one that seemed as if it would never end. Every great season looked a lot like the previous one. Kind of like with Trout.

Let's consider value metrics. Trout is at 69.4 WAR but has a little over half this season to go. Let's go with his having 75 WAR by the end of 2019. Pujols was at 54.9 WAR through his age-27 season. This is the essence of why you'd go with Trout. He had more than a season's head start on Pujols because he broke in at 19, and that narrows the gap because -- remember -- we're trying to figure out whom we'd take going forward. Still, while both players stood alone as MLB's top performer at age 27, there are degrees to greatness, and Trout has been a greater shade of great than Pujols was at the same age. You can quibble about a handful of WAR, but you can't really quibble about a 20-win gap in value.

The more traditional stats are not so clear-cut, especially since some might want to dismiss the positional adjustments in WAR and some of the park effects when arguing this choice. (They'd be mostly wrong to do so, but these measurements are kind of touchy with some fans because of the abstract nature of contextualization.)

Pujols was hitting .332/.420/.620 through his age-27 season. Trout is at .307/.420/.578. Pujols had 282 homers; Trout has 262 and will likely end up around 282 by the end of the season. Pujols had 861 RBIs; Trout has 704 and even with another half season of RBIs will be at a major deficit. Trout already has more runs and stolen bases at 27 than Pujols, even with rest of 2019 remaining. Still, anyone arguing for Pujols on the basis of traditional measures might be hard-pressed to take his future greatness over Trout's.

There is one final factor in this: durability. Trout has been mostly healthy this season, but he missed 71 games combined in 2017 and 2018. He's a rambunctious player, running into outfield walls, diving into bases with unthinking abandon, and even seems to have an unusual ability to foul balls off himself. If these things worry you in regard to Trout's future, and you have age-27 Pujols as a standby option, is the choice really as easy as all that?

Actually, yes. Pujols is among the greatest of the great, but nevertheless, if you were to put Hall of Famers into tiers, he'd probably be on the second tier. And that's pretty damned good. But Trout appears to be headed to the pantheon -- the Mays-Ruth-Aaron-Bonds-Mantle-Wagner class living somewhere on the upstate New York version of Mount Olympus.

Yet, maybe we thought Pujols could have eventually resided there as well. We can slot his career more accurately because we've seen how it has turned out. He proved to be human, not the machine to which he was initially likened for his consistency. With Trout, we can continue to dream of heights never before scaled.

And that's the moral of all this. Appreciate Pujols for what he was and what he is. But don't put off admiring what Mike Trout has done so far in his career and continues to do. The best, even the best of the best, don't stay the best forever. It doesn't matter whether or not you'd take the 27-year-old Pujols or the 27-year-old Trout. You can't go wrong with either, and whomever you end up with, soak up every magic moment while you can.

Andy Murray says he "didn't expect to be playing in the Queen's final" on his return to tennis, five months after career-saving hip surgery.

Murray, 32, and Feliciano Lopez, 37, beat John Peers and Henri Kontinen 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 10-7 in the semi-final.

The pair have dropped one set and beaten top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal en route to the final.

"I didn't have high expectations at all," said two-time Wimbledon singles champion Murray.

"I had a tough, tough draw, playing the top seeds in the first match and I've never played with Feli [Lopez] before.

"I think things have probably got a little bit better maybe with each match as well."

In Sunday's final, Murray and Lopez will play Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram after they claimed a shock victory over fourth-seeded US brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

Spaniard Lopez will take on 34-year-old Frenchman Gilles Simon in the singles final at 13:30 BST before returning to the court for the doubles final.

'Zero pain in my hip'

Before his surgery in January, Murray limped and grimaced between points and his suffering culminated in a tearful news conference at the Australian Open, when he revealed retirement plans.

But the Scot, who has won the singles title at Queen's five times, has looked sharp on court all week and his body language reveals how much he is enjoying playing again.

Murray said there was "no pain at all" in his hip after the semi-final, although he admitted he was feeling the effects of the three matches he has played.

"My back's a bit stiff," he said. "You're sort of getting down low for a lot of balls and you're always kind of in a crouched-over position in doubles a bit more than when you're in singles.

"I'm not used to that as much, so my back has been a little bit stiff after some of the matches. My arm is a little bit tired from serving and stuff. But my hip's been brilliant so far. I don't feel anything at all. It's amazing."

'I wanted to play every tournament with one partner'

Murray won his last doubles title with brother Jamie in Tokyo eight years ago, but has not announced any plans to team back up with his sibling.

Instead, the former world number one will play with Brazilian Marcelo Melo at Eastbourne next week before partnering France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the men's doubles at Wimbledon.

"I ideally would have liked to have played with the same partner every single week," Murray said.

"I have got three brilliant partners, so hopefully we can do OK. But I have to do a few things differently each week."

The Scot's mixed doubles partner is yet to be decided for his return to Grand Slam tennis at the All England Club in July.

After revealing in his BBC Sport column that French Open champion Ashleigh Barty had turned him down, many players took to Twitter to offer to play with Murray.

But the three-time Grand Slam winner said he had not spoken to anyone personally about it yet.

"My coach had a few messages from players," he explained. "A few people have said stuff online, but I haven't actually spoken to anyone since."