USA shock start, Suryakumar’s masterclass seals India’s T20 WC opener
Mumbai/IBNS: India kicked off their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 title defence with a win over USA, courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav's fighting half-century at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
The USA got off to the perfect start after opting to bowl first as Ali Khan dismissed the dangerous Abhishek Sharma for a duck.
Ishan Kishan then joined Tilak Varma, and the duo looked to steady the innings. They added 37 runs before Shadley van Schalkwyk turned the game on its head, removing Ishan Kishan (20 off 16), Tilak Varma (25 off 16) and Shivam Dube for a golden duck in the final over of the Powerplay. India were left in a tricky position at 46/4 at the end of the first six overs.
Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh looked to rebuild the innings, but the pair could add only 26 runs before Mohammad Mohsin dismissed Rinku Singh. Harmeet Singh got the big wicket of Hardik Pandya in the next over, pushing India into deeper trouble.
Axar Patel joined Suryakumar Yadav at the crease and provided much-needed stability for India. The pair added a valuable 41-run stand to push India past the three-figure mark before Harmeet Singh struck again, claiming his second wicket by dismissing Axar Patel.
Suryakumar Yadav played a captain’s knock, holding India’s innings together as they battled through to reach a competitive total of 161.
India started the defence strongly as Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh struck in consecutive overs, dismissing Andries Gous and Monank Patel respectively to give India the perfect start.
Saiteja Mukkamalla shortly followed as USA were reeling three down in the fourth over. Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi made a shot at rebuilding the innings and struck up a partnership of 58 runs for the fourth wicket.
Just when they started to take on India's attack, Kumar (34 runs off 34 balls) was stumped by Ishan Kishan.
Shubham Ranjane showed immense resilience, fighting through pain from a knock picked up earlier, and struck at 168.68. He held on despite running out of partners at the other end.
Ranjane was eventually trapped in front by Siraj on the final ball of the innings for a well-made 37 runs from 22 balls.
Reigning champions India started their title defence by beating USA by 29 runs.
(With inputs from ICC website)
IBNS
Senior Staff Reporter at Northeast Herald, covering news from Tripura and Northeast India.
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