T20 cricket rarely follows the script and the match between defending champions India and USA in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has proved it once again.
India entered the World Cup as favorites thanks to their form, experience and all-round depth in the team. Before the match started, the discussion was less on whether India would win or not and more on how many runs they would score. However, things did not unfold as expected as the United States sent a timely reminder to the eager hosts.
USA produced a brilliant bowling performance to restrict India to 46/4 inside the powerplay. Just a few days ago, India were scoring runs for fun against New Zealand and were expected to do the same against the US. However, the Men in Blue were dealt a blow as the United States executed their plans brilliantly inside the powerplay and will now be looking for their chances.
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India in big trouble against America:
USA won the toss and decided to bowl first and their bowlers wasted no time in proving the decision right. Saurabh Netravalkar led the attack and troubled Ishan Kishan right from the start, although the Indian opener managed to hit a six in the first over.
Ali Khan gave a dream start to USA by dismissing the dangerous Abhishek Sharma on the second ball of the second over. After this, Tilak Verma gave some initial momentum to the innings by hitting a six and two fours off Netrawalkar in the third over.
Tilak and Ishan steadied the ship, before Shadley van Schalkwyk got his team on the front foot by taking three wickets in the final over of the powerplay. The over started with a single before Kishan was out on the second ball.
Two balls later, Van Schalkwyk sent back Tilak before dismissing Shivam Dubey with a slower ball on the final ball of the over. At the end of the powerplay, India were at 46/4 and would be hoping that the middle-order batsmen take them to a challenging score.
At the time of writing this report, India were at 55/4 in the 10th over with captain Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh in the middle.
