Mumbai: USA captain Monank Patel praised his bowlers’ efforts but admitted top-order batters struggled as the team fell short against defending champions India, losing by 29 runs in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 opener in Mumbai.
With Shadley van Schalkwyk claiming 4-25, including an initial burst of 3-13, the USA had India on the ropes at 77/6. But they could not press home the advantage, and India skipper Suryakumar Yadav hammered an unbeaten 894 off 49 balls to help the hosts post 161/9 in 20 overs.
Chasing a modest total, the USA lost three early wickets for 13 runs but had recovered to 71 for three thanks to Milind Kumar (34) and Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37) before their innings unravelled and then were eventually restricted to 132/8 in 20 overs.
Monank said his bowlers did a great job to reduce India to 77/6 but blamed dropped catches for not restricting the hosts to 130 or so.
“I thought our bowlers did a good job. Pitch was not easy to read. The variations they bowled in the powerplay…we kept them quiet for a while. We dropped catches, and that cost us. At one stage, we felt we could restrict them to 130,” said the USA captain.
He said 160 was chasable, but the failure of his top three batters put paid to their efforts. He said they have taken lots of learnings from this match, which will help them in subsequent matches.
“I thought 160 was a good score (to chase on this wicket). The top three could not perform, soft dismissals. The intent was a bit missing because we lost wickets initially. Lots of learning and positives from this game. The way we handled the pressure, the crowd, we managed it really well. We made a few mistakes, but we will try to come back stronger,” he added.
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Caption: India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav and USA captain Monank Patel during the toss ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 match between India and the USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, February 7, 2026. (Photo: IANS)
–IANS
