Chennai, February 15 – Shadley van Schalkwyk continued his impressive form, taking crucial wickets as the USA restricted Namibia to 168/6 in 20 overs, securing a dominant 31-run victory in their final match of the T20 World Cup 2026 group stage, played on Sunday at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium.
This is the USA's second consecutive win in the tournament, and it keeps their chances alive for advancing to the Super 8 stage. However, the USA needs either India or Pakistan to lose both their remaining group stage matches by a significant margin.
Namibia started strongly, with openers Jan Frylink and Louren Steenkamp both getting good starts and scoring at a run rate of over ten, while keeping the required run rate in check.
The USA broke the partnership in the fifth over when Frylink was caught by van Schalkwyk. Frylink scored 19 runs off just 15 balls, bringing Namibia's score to 57/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Despite losing his opening partner, Louren continued to attack the USA bowlers, forming a 45-run partnership with Loftie-Eaton, who eventually got out after scoring 28 runs off 17 balls, hitting four boundaries.
Louren completed his half-century in 33 balls, and as he looked to finish things off for Namibia, USA bowler Shubham Ranjane dismissed him with a slower ball in the 13th over. Louren scored 58 runs off 39 balls, hitting five boundaries and three sixes.
The USA struck again in the 15th over, dismissing captain Gerhard Erasmus, who managed to score just 6 runs off ten balls.
Namibia never recovered from the back-to-back wickets, and JJ Smit and wicketkeeper batter Zane Green, who retired in the 18th over, were unable to match the required run rate, which continued to increase.
Van Schalkwyk was the most successful bowler for the USA, finishing with figures of 2/30, while Sourabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan, and Shubham Ranjane each took one wicket.
Earlier, thanks to captain Monank Patel and Sanjay Krishnamurthi's half-centuries, the USA posted a total of 199/4 in 20 overs.
Coming in to bat after winning the toss, the USA had a strong start as openers Monank Patel and Shayan Jahangir looked in good form and forged an opening partnership of 68 runs. The USA were 65/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Namibia finally got a breakthrough in the seventh over when Shayan was dismissed by Willem Myburgh, who was playing his first match in the tournament. Shayan scored 22 runs off 18 balls, hitting two fours and a six during his innings.
Despite losing his opening partner, skipper Monank continued to attack, completing his first fifty in the T20 World Cup 2026 in 27 balls. Monank also became the first USA batter to score 1000 runs in T20Is.
With the USA at 88/1 at the end of the 10th over, Namibia made a comeback with two wickets in the next two overs, with captain Monank departing after scoring 52 runs off 30 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes, while Saiteja Mukkamalla was caught at long-on after scoring 17 runs off 18 balls.
After the back-to-back blows, Milind Kumar and Sanjay stabilized the innings with a dominant 87-run partnership, which shifted the momentum to the USA.
Sanjay completed his fifty in just 23 balls with a six in the 17th over and remained unbeaten on 68 runs off just 33 balls. He hit four boundaries and six sixes during his innings, while Milind got out in the last over after scoring 28 runs off just 20 balls.
Final Scores: USA 199/4 in 20 overs (Sanjay Krishnamurthi 68 not out, Monank Patel 52, Milind Kumar 28; Willem Myburgh 2-22, Gerhard Erasmus 2-27) beat Namibia 168/6 in 20 overs (Louren Steenkamp 58, JJ Smit 31; Shadley van Schalkwyk 2-30, Shubham Ranjane 1-6) by 31 runs.
