Saurabh Netravalkar of the United States, second from left, celebrates with teammates (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Shadley van Schalkwyk maintained his impressive run with the ball and claimed two key wickets as USA restricted Namibia to 168/6 in 20 overs to seal an impressive 31-run victory in their final T20 World Cup 2026 group stage match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. The win marked the USA’s second in a row and kept their Super 8 ambitions alive. However, their qualification hopes now hinge on either India or Pakistan losing both of their remaining group matches by a significant margin. Setting a daunting target of 200 runs, Namibia started confidently. Openers Jan Frylink and Louren Steenkamp scored briskly with over ten runs per over, keeping the required rate in check. The breakthrough came in the fifth over when van Schalkwyk dismissed Frylink, who made 19 off 15 balls, leaving Namibia at 57/1 at the end of the powerplay. Louren continued to counter-attack and added 45 runs with Loftie-Eaton hitting 28 off 17 balls with four boundaries. Louren reached his half-century in 33 balls but fell for 58 off 39 deliveries, including five fours and three sixes, when Shubham Ranjane fooled him with a slower ball in the 13th over. Captain Gerhard Erasmus followed early on for 6 and Namibia could not recover. JJ Smit and Zane Green, who retired in the 18th over, struggled to maintain the pace as the required rate rose. Van Schalkwyk returned figures of 2/30 while Sourabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan and Ranjane took one wicket each. Earlier, half-centuries from captain Monanko Patel and Sanjay Krishnamurthi propelled USA to 199/4. Monank and Shayan Jahangir put on 68 for the first wicket, USA reached 65 not out in the powerplay. Shayan made 22 before hitting debutant Willem Myburgh. Monank brought up his fifty in 27 balls to become the first US batsman to reach 1000 T20I runs. After Monank (52) and Saiteja Mukkamalla (17) fell in quick succession, Milind Kumar and Sanjay added 87 runs to regain control. Sanjay smashed 68 not out from 33 balls, including four fours and six sixes, while Milind contributed 28 from 20. Brief scores: USA 199/4 (Sanjay Krishnamurthi 68*, Monank Patel 52, Milind Kumar 28; Willem Myburgh 2-22, Gerhard Erasmus 2-27) beat Namibia 168/6 (Louren Steenkamp 58, JJ Sham-kdley van Smit, Ranjane 1-6, 31) by 31 runs.
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