The USA triumphed over the Netherlands by a margin of 93 runs, marking their entry into the T20 World Cup.

The USA triumphed over the Netherlands by a margin of 93 runs, marking their entry into the T20 World Cup.

The United States triumphed over the Netherlands by 93 runs in their Group A match on Friday, marking their first win at the 2026 Twenty20 World Cup, largely due to Saiteja Mukkamalla's impressive score of 79 and Harmeet Singh's remarkable four-wicket haul.

With this victory, the U.S. ascended to third place in the group, trailing India and Pakistan, having played one additional game, while the Netherlands occupied the fourth position, also with two points but behind the Americans on net run rate. After losing the toss and being put to bat, the U.S. posted a formidable total of 196-6 in 20 overs before bowling out the Netherlands for 103, with Harmeet (4-21) achieving the best bowling figures for an American in World Cup history, earning him the player of the match accolade.

"When I first observed the wicket during the first innings, the ball was gripping quite a bit, even when I went in to bat. Therefore, the strategy was to spin the ball, and during the powerplay, it did grip from the very first ball," Harmeet remarked.

"That was the discussion we had during the middle innings, that there is assistance available if we focus on spinning. So I believe the plan was to look to spin the ball whenever we were under pressure." In the first innings, American captain Monank Patel set a brisk pace with a quick 36 before Mukkamalla dazzled the crowd, hitting five boundaries and four sixes in his innings of 79 off 51 balls.

Shubham Ranjane concluded the innings with an unbeaten 48 off 24 balls, steering the U.S. to a competitive total, while all-rounder Bas de Leede (3-37) stood out among the bowlers, taking the vital wickets of both Patel and Mukkamalla.

NETHERLANDS STRUGGLE TO FORM PARTNERSHIPS

In reply, the Netherlands' pursuit never gained momentum as they struggled to form partnerships and lost wickets consistently, collapsing to 66-5 within eight overs. Harmeet was instrumental in their collapse, extracting turn from the pitch as he dismantled the Netherlands' batting order just as their chase seemed to show signs of life. The bowler was economical while continuously applying pressure as the required run rate escalated.Veteran Shadley van Schalkwyk contributed significantly by taking three wickets for 21 runs, effectively dismantling the lower order as the Dutch team was bowled out in the 16th over.

"We never truly found our rhythm; we kept losing wickets," remarked Dutch captain Scott Edwards.

"When the required run rate escalates to 11 or 12 quite rapidly, it becomes a matter of balancing the need to reduce the rate while also preserving wickets. Unfortunately, we did not manage that today."