CHENNAI: Half-centuries from skipper Monak Patel and Sanjay Krishnamurthy led to a resounding win over Namibia by 31 runs in the 26th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Chidambaram Stadium.
Chasing the 200-run target, Namibia piled up 168/6 despite Loren Steenkamp’s blistering half-century.
Shadley van Schalkwyk’s 19 off 15 balls with a six and a four helped the Eagles score 19 off 15 balls with a six and a four as Shadley van Schalkwyk scored a blistering 54 in 5.1 overs.
Steenkamp then shared brief partnerships with John Nicoll Lofty-Eaton (28) and captain Gerhard Erasmus before eventually succumbing to Shubham Ranjane in the 13th over.
Namibia suffered another setback in the run chase in two overs as van Schalkwyk dropped Erasmus (six) to be reduced to 123/4 in 14.4 overs.
Following successive blows, all-rounder JJ Smith and wicketkeeper-batsman Jane Green (18) shared 26 runs for 20 balls for the fifth wicket before retiring at the end of the 18th over, needing 51 runs from the remaining 12 balls.
However, the tactical decision did not change fortunes for Namibia as they fell 31 runs short following Smith’s dismissal in the final over after scoring 31 off 23 balls.
Shadley van Schalkwyk took 2 for 30 in his two overs to spark the US bowling, while Ali Khan, Saurabh Netrawalkar and Ranjane claimed a wicket each.
Opting to bat first, the USA scored 199 for 4 in 20 overs with 87 for the fourth wicket.
USA started their innings with a bang as their opening pair of Patel and Shayan Jahangir put on 68 runs in seven overs, Willem Myburgh’s 22 off 18 balls gave Namibia a much-needed boost as they bowled out a retreating Namibian.
Patel then put on a brief 21-run partnership for the second wicket with Saideja Mukkamalla, before Myburgh struck again to pull his anchor tongue to the screen. The American captain scored 52 runs off 30 balls with the help of 3 sixes and several fours.
USA suffered another blow to their campaign in the next over when Mukkamalla fell to Gerhard Erasmus after a cautious 17 off 18 balls.
With the scoreboard reading 103/3 in 11.4 overs, Krishnamurthy and Milind Kumar took control of the US innings and led a mighty score with a crucial 87-run partnership that culminated in the latter’s dismissal in the last over. Kumar contributed brilliantly with 28 off 20 balls.
Krishnamurthy, on the other hand, batted till the end and returned after scoring an unbeaten 68 off 33 balls with 6 sixes and 4 fours.
Myburgh and captain Erasmus took 2 wickets each for Namibia.
Notably, despite the comfortable win, the US remained third in the Group A standings with a net run rate of 0.788 with four points from four matches.
They now believe that Pakistan will lose their remaining two group-stage fixtures by huge margins, leaving them behind, securing second place and qualifying for the next stage.