Sai Mukkamalla pitched in with a half-century to buttress USA's chase, but it wasn't enough in the end as USA stumbled at the finish line to lose by seven runs when victory was in sight with 12 needed off the final over. 

File photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
USA’s final preparations for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup showcased a promising display, but one full of what ifs as several costly fielding lapses and a final-over showdown went in New Zealand’s favor as the Americans came up just short in pursuit of New Zealand’s first innings total of 208 to lose by seven runs on Thursday evening at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. USA needed 12 to win off the final over, but Matt Henry conceded just four runs while taking two wickets to complete a five-wicket haul and deny USA a significant morale boost heading into their opening night contest against India on Saturday. 
 
New Zealand raced away after being sent in to bat first by USA as Devon Conway and Tim Seifert pulverized USA in the Powerplay to help the Black Caps reach 64 for 1 at the end of the first six overs. From a USA standpoint, the most significant in the opening sequence happened on the fourth ball of the third over when vice-captain Jessy Singh suffered a right shoulder injury while diving forward for a chance offered by Conway on 12 off the bowling of Ali Khan. Singh was stationed at mid-off when a checked drive floated toward him. Not only was he unable to come up with the catching chance, but he landed hard on his right shoulder and stayed down in pain. After a nearly 10-minute delay, Singh walked off the field but later had to be carted out of the stadium on a stretcher to receive further treatment. He later returned to the stadium with his right arm in a sling and his status for Saturday night against India is in major doubt. 
 
Conway eventually fell one over later to Saurabh Netravalkar when a length delivery was slapped to Shubham Ranjane at mid-off for 16 to make it 41 for 1 after four. Mark Chapman lasted for 17 off 11 before he was bowled behind his legs after walking too far across his stumps trying to flick behind square against Mohammad Mohsin’s legspin to make it 92 for 2. 
 
Seifert had blazed away to a 24-ball half-century at the other end and coasted further to 66 off 31 balls before opting to retire out at the end of the 11^th over with the score on 121. USA had a chance in the following over to create two new batters at the crease. But Glenn Phillips was dropped twice in the space of three balls off the bowling of Mohsin. First at extra cover on a head height chance to Monank Patel, and then on 24 when a skied drive to Shadley van Schalkwyk at cover sweeper was fumbled over the rope for a boundary. Phillips rubbed salt into the wound in the following over when he belted Ranjane’s medium pace for consecutive sixes before finally falling for 40 when he miscued a low full toss to van Schalkwyk at long-on who this time held onto the chance to make it 146 for 4. 
 
Van Schalkwyk continued to be a magnet for catching opportunities as Daryl Mitchell sent him an opportunity in the same over to deep midwicket, but he was slow reacting coming in off the rope and a chance landed safely just in front of him on 4 that turned into two runs. Van Schalkwyk also had a sharp return chance come his way from Mitchell Santner in the 15^th over, but a one-handed effort on 5 didn’t stick. Santner went on to make 19 before pulling a slower bouncer from Ali Khan to Sanjay Krishnamurthi at long-on in the 18^th. Mitchell went on to make 32 before picking out Mohsin at long-off in the final to give Saurabh Netravalkar another wicket. In a game of small margins, one more chance went down near the end of the innings as Jimmy Neesham drove van Schalkwyk to Khan at long-off who charged forward off the rope but was unable to hold onto a sharp low chance on 8 before Neesham was runout on the final ball of the innings for 13 on a relay from Mohsin at long-on to Andries Gous behind the stumps to deny a second run down the ground as New Zealand ended on 208 for 7. 
 
Netravalkar ended with 2 for 37 to lead USA with the ball. Mohsin was the only other to send down four overs and claimed 1 for 39, though he was severely impacted by dropped chances. Khan took 1 for 27 off his three overs while Ranjane returned 1 for 29 off two. Milind Kumar conceded 0 for 25 off two overs sent down in the Powerplay while Harmeet Singh gave away 0 for 39 off three overs in the middle portion of play. Van Schalkwyk ended as USA’s most economical bowler with 0 for 12 off two overs. 
 
Henry’s impact with the ball began on the first delivery of the chase when he nabbed Gous for a golden duck when a leg stump half-volley was flicked to Neesham’s right at short midwicket where a stunning one-handed catch was taken. Jacob Duffy made it two in two overs when Shayan Jahangir tried to open the face to glide wide of the keeper but instead picked out short third man on the ring for 2 to make it 13 for 2. 
 
USA captain Patel arrived at No. 4 and teamed with Sai Mukkamalla to add 59 for the third wicket. Patel was the aggressor in the stand, making 31 off 14 balls. He survived a low caught and bowled chance off Duffy on 23 in the sixth over, then lofted Ish Sodhi for six in the eighth over before Sodhi struck back one ball later to defeat him through the gate with a googly to make it 72 for 3. Mukkamalla continued to cruise at the other end, swatting Sodhi over midwicket for six in the 10^th and brought up a 30-ball half-century with a single two balls later. But Mukkamalla fell on ball 31 when he miscued a half-tracker trying to clear the leg side ropes again and instead was caught a yard inside the line at deep midwicket by Phillips to make it 94 for 4 with one ball to go in the 10^th. 
 
Despite needing 115 off 61 balls, USA continued to forge ahead and kept the required run rate in check thanks to three consecutive double-digit overs by a combination of Kumar, Harmeet and Ranjane. Harmeet clipped a pair of fours in the 12^th before Milind reeled off a hat-trick of fours with some inventive strokeplay in the 13^th off Henry. But Harmeet fell later in the same over to Henry for 14 when he slapped a length ball to Mitchell at mid-off to make it 127 for 5. 
 
Kumar launched Santner straight down the ground for six as part of a 15-run over in the 14^th. But he fell for 43 off 26 in the 17^th as Henry began a crucial death over sequence by conceding just four singles in the over in which Kumar fell in identical fashion to Harmeet with a slap to mid-off which was taken on this occasion by Mitchell to make it 160 for 6. It meant USA needed 49 off 23 balls to win. 
 
However, the pendulum swung back in USA’s favor in the 18^th when Ranjane and Krishnamurthi both pummeled Duffy for six in an 18-run over. Fifteen more runs were plundered off the 19^th, including 13 of them by Ranjane punctuated by a six as USA entered the final frame with Ranjane on strike needing to score at two runs per ball to get USA over the line. Two shots are all that USA needed to clinch victory. But Henry was magnificent yet again. 
 
Ranjane curiously turned down an easy single off the first ball of the over when a misfield at mid-off opened the door for the batters to swap strike. But Ranjane stayed put and on the next ball he paid the price by shoveling a catch for 41 to Neesham at long-on who pulled off another brilliant take to make it 197 for 7. Mohsin entered and punched two off his first ball to reduce the equation to 10 runs off three balls. But USA flubbed the final half of the over. Henry outfoxed Mohsin with a slower bouncer on the fourth ball of the over that was tamely ramped to short third where Sodhi took a catch for 2 to make it 199 for 8. 
 
Krishnamurthi could only watch helplessly at the other end, possibly regretting not taking the single that was on offer on the first ball of the over because he couldn’t get back on strike until the match was effectively over. Van Schalkwyk entered needing to win the match himself with 10 off two balls required. A yorker was sent down by Henry on the penultimate delivery and the lefty dut it out for a single. Needing nine to win off the final ball, the match ended in anticlimactic fashion when Krishnamurthi tucked away a full ball for a single as USA ended on 201 for 8. Despite having crossed 200 runs in a chase for the second match in a row, USA remained on the losing side. 
 
Henry finished with superb figures of 5 for 32 off four overs. Sodhi bowled a cagey spell of legspin to finish with 2 for 27 off four. Duffy returned 1 for 37 off three. Jamieson wound up as New Zealand’s most expensive bowler of the day both in terms of runs and economy rate with 0 for 41 off three overs. Captain Santner conceded 0 for 30 off three while Phillips sent down a solitary over for seven runs. 
 
A USA Cricket representative was contacted at the conclusion of play regarding an official update on Jessy Singh’s health status, but there was no response at the time of publication. USA begins their Group A slate in the T20 World Cup on Saturday against India at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.