Mukkamalla, spinners lead USA's rout of Netherlands

USA secured a crushing 93-run win over Netherlands in Chennai in their T20 World Cup clash on Friday (February 13). After posting a sizable 196/6 on the back of Saiteja Mukkamalla's 79 and Shubham Ranjane's quickfire 48*, USA backed it up with a clinical bowling display that saw the Dutch being bowled out for just 103.

Asked to bat first, the tone was set by Shayan Jahangir who launched sixes off both Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek in the opening two overs of the innings. His dismissal in the third over did not slow USA down as Monank Patel and Mukkamalla sustained the tempo to take them to 53/1 at the end of the PowerPlay.

Their 55-run stand was broken by Bas de Leede in the ninth over after Patel upper-cut a slower short ball to keeper Scott Edwards. The respite was short-lived though as Mukkamalla rattled off two boundaries in each of the two following overs before bringing up a 30-ball fifty with a six in the 12th over.

Another fifty-run stand ensued between Mukkamalla and Ranjane following Sanjay Krishnamurthi's dismissal in the 11th over. After leaking runs from both ends, the Dutch managed to fight back briefly by dismissing Mukkamalla in the 17th over. However, Ranjane's late assault, that saw him strike three fours and two sixes, lifted USA to 196.

In reply, Netherlands' chase went pear-shaped as early as the second over that began with Nosthush Kenjige, who returned to USA's XI, bowling Michael Levitt. Bas de Leede fought back with a four and six in Kenjige's following over but lacked support from the other end with Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann falling in successive overs. That left Netherlands on 51/3 at the end of the PowerPlay.

De Leede's dismissal in the seventh over tightened the squeeze, forcing Netherlands to balance the rising asking rate against the risk of losing more wickets. Zach Lion-Cachet failed to make an impact and when Scott Edwards fell at the end of the tenth over, leaving Netherlands on 75/6, the game was headed in only one direction.

With the game too far gone, there was little resistance from the rest of Netherlands' batting order as they folded for 103 in the 16th over. Harmeet Singh finished with impressive figures of 4-21 while Shadley van Schalkwyk picked up three wickets. Leggie Mohammad Mohsin too chipped in with a couple of wickets. This was the USA's first win of the competition and their first win over the Netherlands in T20Is.

Brief Scores:USA 196-6 in 20 overs (Saiteja Mukkamalla 79, Shubham Ranjane 48*; Bas de Leede 3-37) beat Netherlands 103 all-out in 15.5 overs (Bas de Leede 23; Harmeet Singh 4-21, Shadley van Schalkwyk 3-21) by 93 runs