"We are at a World Cup, so you want to have as many people in the stands and obviously you want the fans to be supporting you. I feel like the Netherlands is always everyone's favourite second team and so hopefully we can be that for the Indian fans, the local Chennai fans that come and enjoy their cricket here at Chepauk."

This is what Logan van Beek had said a day prior to the crucial Netherlands-USA clash in Chennai. What van Beek also said was that his side wanted to get the job done against USA and move into their final group game against India with the prospect of doing 'something special'.

Chennai certainly turned up. Just like they did for the New Zealand-Afghanistan clash, just like they did for the New Zealand-UAE clash. In this case, there were two associate teams in action, so naturally doubts lingered over the potential turnout. But the crowd surpassed the one that had turned up for the previous game. Almost 20,000 showed up on a Friday evening to watch Netherlands take on USA. As always, every top effort on the field from either side was cheered. There were also regular 'USA USA' chants from a section of the crowd, reflecting their connection to players with Indian roots in the United States team.

At the end of the day, van Beek had his wish granted. However, his other dream has now come crashing down. Any clash against India on the big stage is worth its weight in gold for an outfit like the Netherlands. But that contest on February 18 in Ahmedabad has certainly lost its sheen now. A Dutch win on Friday could have kept things a lot more intriguing heading into that India clash. But the Dutch didn't turn up. Already heading into the clash as the favourites, the odds were in the Netherlands' favour when they won the toss and opted to bowl at a venue that has seen chasing sides prevail more often than not in the recent past.

USA, meanwhile, showed up on the field by springing a surprise. Andries Gous, one of their most experienced campaigners, was left out. Gous had made an impact in the home World Cup in 2024 and had also smashed a memorable century in the ILT20 not too long ago. Yet, the USA opted for a third different opening partnership in three games, with skipper Monank Patel returning to the top after his twin failures prior to this fixture. The move paid off as Monank finally found some vital runs. However, it was the youngster Saiteja Mukkamalla who made heads turn.

With the surface offering assistance for the spinners, Roelof van der Merwe ditched his usual approach of darting in deliveries and instead consistently gave the ball more air to allow it to spin. And spin it did right from the start for the Dutch tweakers. Yet, the USA batters, led by the 21-year-old Mukkamalla, demolished the spinners in orange. That was clearly the difference between the two sides. The continued absence of Paul van Meekeren, Netherlands' best bowler against Pakistan, didn't help either as he recovers from an injury. In the end, USA ended up registering the highest score (196) at this venue in this year's T20 World Cup. It was perhaps a bit more than what the Dutch should have conceded, as their coach admitted after the game.

"I think as good a wicket as it was, I think 195 was probably above-par score there," Ryan Cook said. "We didn't execute with the ball at all and that sort of made the scoreboard pressure, as you say, come into play. But yeah, hats off to them, they batted really well, bowled some very good spin and yeah, our decision-making and execution wasn't quite up to par tonight."

On a night where the USA batters made merry against spin despite the assistance from the surface, the Dutch failed to replicate it in the chase. Dew was expected to come in and make matters easier for them. But it didn't. And Harmeet Singh took full toll of that as he constantly tossed the ball up and just let the pitch do the talking. With the fall of every Dutch wicket, the scoreboard pressure began to tell. The lack of game time under lights in recent months didn't help either, as Cook pointed out.

"We haven't had any practices under lights yet," he noted. "Yesterday we weren't allowed to play under lights. So this is our first time that we've played under the lights since Bangladesh, of which some of our players weren't there. So it is obviously quite new for most of the guys. But that's not an excuse for us. We've got to go out there and do the business."

The Netherlands certainly didn't do the business. There was no redemption story in sight for Max O'Dowd. Bas de Leede, easily their MVP, did his bit with the ball and started off well with the bat too. But one man cannot do it on his own in a run chase of 197. The experienced Colin Ackermann departed for a golden duck and the inexperience of Zach Lion-Cachet showed. In no time, 41/1 became 84/7 and Chepauk no longer had 20,000 in the stands with the result appearing to be a foregone conclusion.

Harmeet's average speed dropped by 8 kmph on the night compared to his first two outings in this World Cup. The result? A four-wicket haul, a Player of the Match award and a first-ever win for the United States over the Dutch in any format of international cricket. The fact that this happened despite the Netherlands spinners getting more turn and drift on average compared to their USA counterparts was telling. While the Netherlands conceded 12 an over with spin with no wickets to show for, the trio of Harmeet, Mohammad Mohsin and Nosthush Kenjige picked up seven scalps while conceding at just six.

"When you have runs on board, it gives you that liberty to be able to take that extra chance and try to get wickets in the powerplay," Harmeet said after the game. "When batters are coming really hard at you and you are bowling at a much slower pace, all you have to do is get a mishit from them and they had to keep going at the end of the day. So we knew that, and when the ball was gripping and spinning, it helped us and we kept it really simple."

While Harmeet made it sound so simple, much like his execution, the result of this fixture has complicated matters for the Dutch. Until 7 pm on Friday, they were the ones fancied to cause a disruption and potentially spoil the party by denying either India or Pakistan a spot in the Super 8. But things change very quickly in this sport. In a matter of three hours, the Dutch now find themselves on par with the USA in terms of points and behind them on NRR. The decks have been cleared for India and Pakistan.