Mumbai: India defeated the USA by 29 runs in their opening match of Group A in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium here.
Axar Patel ended the fight left in the USA with two wickets in a single over. He picked up the wickets of Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Harmeet Singh in the 16th over, taking the punch out of the chase.
Earlier, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with a brilliant unbeaten 84 as India extricated themselves from a precarious 77/6 to post a fighting total of 161/9 against the USA. The USA ended their innings at 132/8 in 20 overs.
After the USA had opted to bowl first, Shadley van Schalkwyk made full use of the movement offered by the Wankhede pitch that was gripping and holding the ball.
But Yadav showed his bowlers how to bat on such a wicket as he hammered 10 fours and four sixes in his 49-ball knock to help the defending champions post a respectable total.
India scored 46/4 in the Power-play, 69/2 in the middle overs before closing it out with 46/3 in death against some fine bowling by the Americans, who, however, dropped at least five catches.
A three-wicket blitz by van Schalkwyk rocked India as the hosts slumped to 46/4 at the end of the six-over mandatory Power-play. Van Schalkwyk got into the act after Ali Khan had sent back the explosive opener Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck, claiming 3-13 in his first spell of three overs. The likes of Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh and Anries Gous impressed with their performances.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan limped to a three-wicket win over the Netherlands in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup opener at the Singhalese Cricket Club in Sri Lanka.
There were reports that the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup game was back on the table as PCB initiated talks with ICC.
In another group match, seam-bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd produced a sensational spell of 5-20, including a hat-trick, as two-time champions West Indies defeated Scotland by 35 runs in their Group C clash of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
