United States of America vs Namibia, 26th Match, Group A, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

We wrap up our coverage of this game here. There's a game in Colombo where the toss has just happened. We have started our coverage of that one way back. My esteemed colleague, Sagar Chawla, is on fire there. Do catch up on all the updates. See you there. Bye bye for now.

Monank Patel: Yes, we do the homework for every team now. We have done it for Namibia too. I thought winning that toss and batting first, we knew that the wickets were going to get better, so we wanted to make sure that we get a proper start and I thought the partnership between myself and Shayan was very crucial. And later on, the way Sanjay finished off the innings, great to see him, and we knew that 200 is a good score if we keep good pressure through our bowling. (Why he decided to go back opening?) I have opened innings most of the times and after the first few games, I decided to open the innings again and I thought that my role was to play freely and make sure that I express myself and today was the day that I got a chance early and I capitalized and I'm happy that it came through winning for us. (Talking about the youngsters) I mean, I spoke during the Netherlands game about Sai. Sanjay is the same incredible talent which we have in our squad and the way he played today, I thought he was a bit under pressure. He couldn't capitalize in the two innings and I thought the way he played today was great to see him. Yes, he can hit the ball really far and the way he expressed himself today, I thought because of him, we were able to make 200 runs today. (Talks about the crowd) It feels like home. The crowd has been fantastic since the last two games. They've been very supportive and I feel like a lot of our players has been playing in the Texas Super Kings and because of that, we are getting that home support.

Gerhard Erasmus: I thought it was a nice wicket. It turned out to be a really good scoring wicket. But we would have liked to also bat first and put some pressure on the ball. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. I think that's the way it goes. You can't really control tosses, but you just play the game. We know it's a contest, bat and ball, and their batters played exceptionally well at the front. We tried to do as a top plan from the previous game. Unfortunately, our plan was quite tough to handle again. But yeah, credit goes to their pair. My bowlers rolled it up in the middle period and really bowled well to get us back in the game. (Talks about Willem Myburgh) He's got great control with his leggies. Such a nice skill to have in this format of the game, I guess. All the top bowlers in the world seem to be the exponents. And I hope he goes from strength to strength because it's such a vital asset to have. We were in the game in the halfway stage. We had a good foundation. I thought obviously the batters coming in would probably find a few deliveries tough to get used to the slowness of the wicket. But yeah, not enough intent there. And in terms of boundaries, I don't think so. We didn't quite have a full crack at it. Yeah, I think it's obviously for these teams, it's about taking down every ball or two. So yeah, let's see if we can help them (USA in the last game).

Sanjay Krishnamurthi | Player of the match: I think against the spinners, it was holding a little bit. So I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, but I think my strength, I can hit off the back foot. So I was looking for that ball, looking to rotate. And then I think after 14 overs is when I decided to go. (About the start they got) Absolutely. Both the openers, you know, getting us through the powerplay, 50 or 60, it really helps set the tone. And especially on a wicket like this where we knew it's a little bit slow and turning, that powerplay is crucial to get the runs and they did amazing. (Talks about how he worked on his batting ahead of this World Cup) Yeah, we had like a month-long camp in Sri Lanka. So I was working on a lot of power-hitting stuff to know that I can hit the balls that are in my zone for six and then work around that. That's pretty much how I play my game. (On the crowd today) Absolutely incredible. You know, for a game like USA versus Namibia to have this much of a crowd was incredible. You know, like in Associate cricket, you don't necessarily get this kind of crowd. So it's really special to take it in and I appreciate everyone for coming out. (Where does this knock rank for you?) Probably top five, six. Maybe one of my best for the U.S. for sure.

Stats by Shashikant Singh

Most wickets in a T20 WC edition (Associate teams)
13 - Shadley van Schalkwyk (USA,2026)*
13 - Bas de Leede (NED, 2022)
12 - Ahsan Malik (NED, 2014)
12 - Mohammad Nabi (AFG, 2016)
11 - Rashid Khan (AFG, 2016)
11 - Paul van Meekeren (NED, 2022)

18:16 Local Time, 12:46 GMT, 18:16 IST: Namibia are knocked out. USA still have a chance. Good comeback by USA to defend their score and eventually win by 31 runs. At one stage with Steenkamp going strong, Namibia were right in this. But Steenkamp's dismissal was key and the innings lost momentum after that. USA tightened the screws and van Schalkwyk chipped in with the big wicket of Erasmus with a stunning one-handed take by Shayan Jahangir to help. Smit had too much to do at the end as USA nailed the blockhole and used the change of pace well. Disappointing campaign for Namibia while USA continue their impressive showing. They made India work very hard for their win and then have won two in a row. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Ali Khan to Smit, THATS OUT!! Caught!!