USA were left to rue numerous missed chances in pursuit of a historic upset, none more costly than spilling home team captain Suryakumar Yadav on 15 before he went on to devastate USA with an unbeaten 84 off 49 balls as India escaped opening night with a win. 

Photo credit: ICC via Getty

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
India captain Suryakumar Yadav made the most of a second chance to devastate USA with 84 not out off 49 balls, digging his side out of a major hole in the first half of the innings to help post 161 for 9 which wound up being easily defended in the end after USA stumbled badly in the Powerplay as the defending T20 World Cup champions staved off USA’s upset bid by 29 runs on the opening night of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Suryakumar was dropped on 15 with the score at 63 for 4 in the 10^th over. He then went on to score 69 of India’s last 98 runs in the final 10 overs, including 21 off the final over bowled by Saurabh Netravalkar, to boost India to a total that wound up being comfortably defended. 
 
“I thought our bowlers did a great job,” said USA captain Monank Patel after the loss. “The way they assessed the conditions, the pitch, it wasn’t easy to hit in the Powerplay and the variations they showed in the Powerplay, it gave us a good momentum and good start by getting wickets. We kept them quiet for a long period of time. Here and there we dropped a few catches that cost us the game. We were at a stage where we could restrict them to 130-something.”
 
USA entered the match as 25 to 1 underdogs across most online betting markets, but by the end of the 13^thover, they had become mathematical favorites with one probability marker pegging them as 70% favorites to win the match at that stage. They got to that point after winning the toss and choosing to field first by strangling the Indian lineup with clever bowling from some of the usual suspects but also a string of unheralded contributors.   
 
Despite a decline in his statistical production since the end of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with some observers questioning his spot in USA’s squad, 35-year-old Ali Khan produced a vintage new-ball spell in the Powerplay. Clocking 89 mph, Khan drew a wicket with his second ball of the day, getting the ICC No. 1 ranked T20I batter Abhishek Sharma to fall for a golden duck driving to Sanjay Krishnamurthi at cover sweeper in the second over to make it 8 for 1. 
 
But in a harbinger of things to come, the first chance of the day was shelled in the fourth over when Shadley van Schalkwyk spilled a sharp return chance at chest height off Tilak Varma when the left-hander was on 22. USA made it two drops in five balls as Khan watched a would-be second wicket go down off the batting of Ishan Kishan as the Indian opener’s sliced drive to backward point on 10 was grassed at rib height by Shubham Ranjane. Kishan then exploited the error by hitting Khan for four through cover a few balls later before flicking a six over square leg to end the fifth over at 44 for 1. 
 
But USA rallied back just as quickly when van Schalkwyk struck three times in the sixth to leave India reeling at the end of the Powerplay with the score 46 for 4. His first wicket came off the second ball of the over when he had Kishan driving an offcutter to Milind Kumar at mid-off for 20. Three balls later, he atoned for the earlier drop on Varma by getting the left-hander to miscue a pull to Monank at short midwicket for 25. The sequence was capped next ball when Shivam Dube tried to withdraw from a pull shot on a slower bouncer sent down by van Schalkwyk but instead managed a top edge that floated to Saurabh Netravalkar at short fine leg. Starting the match as heavy underdogs, USA were suddenly projected as mathematical favorites for the rest of the first innings as India inched along, taking only singles during the next three overs before the turning point in the game occurred in a pivotal 10^th over. 
 
Ranjane had come on to bowl his first over of the match and conceded two boundaries to Suryakumar to break a streak going back to the start of the sixth over. But he offered a low chance to Ranjane on a checked drive that floated gently back to the bowler at shin height on 15. Ranjane initially had both hands wrapped around the ball but it popped out as he lunged forward. Rather than ending the over at 63 for 5, India’s captain was allowed to continue and he wound up putting in a Player of the Match performance. 
 
At the other end of the crease, USA continued to make inroads through the introduction of spin into the attack. Debutant legspinner Mohammad Mohsin claimed Rinku Singh at long-on for 6 before left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh removed Hardik Pandya in the following over for 5, slapping a half-tracker to Sai Mukkamalla at cover sweeper to make it 77 for 6. 
 
However, India managed to score at least one boundary per over the rest of the way, with the majority of them coming off the bat of Suryakumar. After India took nine runs off the 14^th and eight runs off the 15^th, Suryakumar targeted Saurabh Netravalkar in the 16^th. Having already conceded 23 runs in his two Powerplay overs, Netravalkar’s array of slower-ball variations did little to fool Suryakumar, who hit him for a four and six as part of a 19-run over. 
 
However, another significant moment occurred in that over that robbed USA of one of their best death bowling options later on. Having already glided Netravalkar for two fours through third man, Axar Patel attempted the shot a third time resulting in a vigorous chase by Khan from the edge of the circle running back toward the rope to try to deny a third consecutive boundary. Khan succeeded with a sliding effort, but in the process his leg got jammed in the turf with a huge chunk of the outfield grass becoming dislodged. The awkward tumble resulted in a significant injury to Khan’s left groin. After initially leaving the field, Khan attempted to return at the start of the 18^th but aborted his runup prior to the first delivery and left the field for the remainder of play. 
 
Harmeet struck again in the 17^th to end Axar’s stay for 14 as a pull found Mohsin at deep midwicket to make it 118 for 7 with 20 balls left. Ranjane was deployed in place of Khan to bowl the 18^th over and conceded a four flicked over square leg to Suryakumar to bring up a 40-ball half-century. But Ranjane subsequently also sustained an injury to his right leg when diving off his own bowling on the fifth ball of the over to deny a single to Arshdeep Singh. He hobbled back to his mark to complete the final delivery, but left the field afterward in obvious pain favoring his right leg. 
 
With Khan still off the field, Van Schalkwyk returned for his final over and conceded 12 runs before dismissing Arshdeep off his final ball, inducing a slap to long-off where Milind took his third catch of the day to make it 140 for 8. 
 
But that meant Suryakumar would start the final over on strike on 63 and torched his ex-Mumbai teammate Netravalkar for 21 runs that included a couple of trademark whips over square leg among his two fours and two sixes in the over. A single off the final ball ended with the runout of Varun Chakravarthy attempting a second run. But India had a defendable total while Netravalkar, USA’s all-time leading wicket-taker, ended with USA’s worst-ever T20I bowling figures, conceding 0 for 65 off four overs. They’re also the worst figures in the history of the Men’s T20 World Cup, going past the 0 for 64 conceded by Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya against Pakistan in the inaugural event at South Africa in 2007. 
 
Van Schalkwyk led USA with a career-best 4 for 25 off his four overs. Harmeet claimed 2 for26 off his four. Mohsin was phenomenal on T20I debut for USA to claim 1 for 16. Khan ended with 1 for 13 off two but could not return to bowl his anticipated final two overs at the death. Ranjane completed his two overs with figures of 0 for 16. 
 
USA’s chase started off in very timid fashion as Andries Gous and Sai Mukkamalla could only collect a pair of extras in the opening over against Arshdeep’s left arm pace. Gous drove Mohammed Siraj for six off the second ball of the second over, but fell two balls later punching a catch low to Varma at cover to make it 8 for 1. Monank then fell softly in the next over to Arshdeep for a second-ball duck, closing the face of the bat too early on an attempted flick to midwicket as a leading edge floated to Dube at mid-off to make it 11 for 2. Mukkamalla’s unconvincing stay ended in the following over for 2 off 7 balls when he flicked Siraj to Varun Chakravarthy at midwicket in the ring to make it 13 for 3. 
 
Suddenly, India were right back to being the overwhelming favorites they had been at the start of the day. Rather than hold back two overs at the death, Arshdeep was given a third over in the Powerplay and the move nearly paid off when Milind sliced a thick edge on 3 to Siraj’s right at short third only for a diving one-handed effort to pop out and USA eventually ended the Powerplay at 31 for 3. 
 
The pair of Milind and Krishnamurthi went the next three overs without a boundary before Milind launched Axar’s left-arm spin over long-on for six in the 10^th as part of an eight-run over that took USA to 49 for 3 at the halfway stage, still needing to score at 11 per over for the final half of the chase if they were to record a famous upset. 
 
USA looked like they might have the firepower to do just that after the pair took 14 off the 11^th over, including a six by Krishnamurthi over long-on. But Milind gave his wicket away in clumsy fashion in the 12^th when he was given out stumped for 34 off Chakravarthy’s spin after setting off for a run believing that a delivery had beaten Kishan behind the stumps. It ended a promising 58-run stand to leave USA at 71 for 4 after 12 overs. Despite being only two runs behind India’s likewise pace in the first innings, the rising required run rate made the situation look bleak for USA without someone the caliber of Suryakumar to make up ground across the remaining over. 
 
Curiously, USA management opted to send in Ranjane at No. 6 rather than Harmeet or Mohsin in spite of the fact that Ranjane was still clearly hampered running between the wickets following his right leg injury suffered in the field. Krishnamurthi tried to keep USA in the hunt by heaving Axar over the deep midwicket rope in the 14^th over for his second six. But he fell for 37 trying to slog sweep the same bowler in the 16^th, top edging a swirling chance taken by Rinku Singh coming in from deep midwicket to make it 98 for 5. Harmeet fell on the next ball, slogging Axar to Siraj at deep midwicket on the opposite side of the ground. Needing 64 off 27 deliveries, USA’s position became even more bleak. 
 
Mohsin was next to go in the 18^th, pulling Arshdeep to deep midwicket for a much-deserved second wicket at 110 for 7. Ranjane battled for some cosmetic late runs across the final two overs that could become more important should the net run rate tiebreaker enter into play by the end of the group stage. Twice, Ranjane cleared the rope at deep midwicket, off Hardik in the 19^th and then off Siraj in the 20^th. He eventually fell for 37 off the final ball of the match, swinging over the top of a Siraj yorker to be given lbw as USA officially ended on 132 for 8. 
 
After only coming into the India squad as an injury replacement for Harshit Rana just 24 hours before the start of the tournament, Siraj had India’s best figures on the day with 3 for 29 off his four overs. Arshdeep was magnificent in taking 2 for 18 having won Player of the Match honors with 4 for 9 in their previous encounter at the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup in New York. Axar finished with 2 for 24 off his four overs while fellow spinner Chakravarthy took 1 for 24. Hardik was the only one to end wicketless for India, conceding 0 for 34. 
 
USA will be off for two days before returning to action against Pakistan on Tuesday in Colombo. Pakistan escaped a serious scare of their own earlier on the opening day when they squeaked past Netherlands by three wickets with three balls to spare. With Pakistan needing 23 off 11 balls to win and only three wickets in hand, eventual Player of the Match Faheem Ashraf was dropped by Max O’Dowd at long-off on 7 with the score 126 for 7. Ashraf proceeded to hit two sixes and a four off the rest of the 19^th over to devastate the Netherlands. India returns to action on Thursday when they are scheduled to face Namibia.