🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M21: NED vs USA at Chennai🏏

🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M21: Netherlands vs USA at Chennai on 13/02/2026 at 7:00 PM IST🏏

USA need to overturn history to beat Netherlands and stay alive

Netherlands are favourites for the T20 World Cup contest in Chennai, especially with USA battling injury issues

The action continues in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, as the United States of America (USA) cross swords with the Netherlands (NED) in Match No. 21 during the Group A encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, February 13.

The United States of America started their campaign on a disappointing note, losing to the defending champions, India, in Mumbai. They then travelled to Colombo for the outing against Pakistan and lost against them, too, which has made the upcoming tie a do-or-die encounter if they are to keep their campaign for the Super Eights' qualification alive.

The Netherlands, on the other hand, played Pakistan in their tournament opener and lost a closely fought fixture but returned with great confidence in their next to defeat the Namibians. With a couple of points already to their tally on the table, the Dutchmen will be confident to scalp their second win of the group stage and put a strong contention forward for the Super Eights.

Team news

There's no reason for Netherlands to tweak their winning combination unless there are any injuries or illnesses in their camp, though veteran Max O'Dowd has been below par.

Netherlands (probable): 1 Max O'Dowd, 2 Michael Levitt, 3 Bas de Leede, 4 Colin Ackermann, 5 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 6 Zach Lion-Cachet, 7 Logan van Beek, 8 Aryan Dutt, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Timm van der Gugten, 11 Fred Klaasen

If Ali Khan is fit, he could potentially come back in place of Adil. There might be a toss-up between Mukkamalla and Shayan Jahangir for the opening slot.

USA (probable): 1 Andries Gous (wk), 2 Shayan Jahangir/Saiteja Mukkamalla, 3 Monank Patel (capt), 4 Milind Kumar, 5 Sanjay Krishnamurthi , 6 Shubham Ranjane, 7 Harmeet Singh , 8 Mohammad Mohsin, 9 Shadley van Schalkwyk, 10 Saurabh Netravalkar, 11 Ali Khan/Ehsan Adil

USA vs NED Probable Best Performers

Probable Best Batter: Bas de Leede

All-rounder Bas de Leede, reputed more for his fast bowling, has been providing some sumptuous strokes in the T20 World Cup 2026. In a defeat to Pakistan, de Leede played a good hand of 30 before hammering an unbeaten 72 against Namibia in New Delhi. The youngster is expected to play a handy knock on Friday night as well.

Originally posted by: Savera84

Team news

There's no reason for Netherlands to tweak their winning combination unless there are any injuries or illnesses in their camp, though veteran Max O'Dowd has been below par.

Netherlands (probable): 1 Max O'Dowd, 2 Michael Levitt, 3 Bas de Leede, 4 Colin Ackermann, 5 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 6 Zach Lion-Cachet, 7 Logan van Beek, 8 Aryan Dutt, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Timm van der Gugten, 11 Fred Klaasen

If Ali Khan is fit, he could potentially come back in place of Adil. There might be a toss-up between Mukkamalla and Shayan Jahangir for the opening slot.

USA (probable): 1 Andries Gous (wk), 2 Shayan Jahangir/Saiteja Mukkamalla, 3 Monank Patel (capt), 4 Milind Kumar, 5 Sanjay Krishnamurthi , 6 Shubham Ranjane, 7 Harmeet Singh , 8 Mohammad Mohsin, 9 Shadley van Schalkwyk, 10 Saurabh Netravalkar, 11 Ali Khan/Ehsan Adil

Oh oh sorry sorry. Apologies. Thanks for the tag! I forgot it’s a triple header today as well.

What they said:

"We don't have the money to have those comps, have those big grounds that we can play on, and I think if we have that funding from ICC, and it's a request from us, personally from me, to really look into it, and if you really nurture us, I'm telling you, there's so much talent in associate cricket. There's so many cricketers who are so good, but not given the exposure." - USA's Shayan Jahangir calls for more help from the ICC

"What we have to do tomorrow night is put in a good performance against USA and then move into that India match with the spirit of we're going to do something special." - Logan van Beek is dreaming big

Pitch and conditions: A 'docile' Chepauk pitch

New Zealand coach Rob Walter described the Chepauk pitch as "docile" after openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert hunted down 175 in 15.2 overs against UAE. According to a graphic on the host broadcast on Tuesday, the average turn at Chepauk has been the lowest among the seven venues in this T20 World Cup.

This will be the first night game at Chepauk in this tournament after Afghanistan vs New Zealand and New Zealand vs UAE had started at 11am and 3pm respectively. So dew will be a factor on Thursday, as was the case during IPL 2025.

Probable Best Bowler: Shadley van Schalkwyk

Shadley van Schalkwyk has been the strike bowler for the Americans in the twenty-team tournament. Currently, he is also topping the charts for the highest wicket-takers in the global event, with eight scalps in only two innings. He picked up four-wicket hauls each against India and Pakistan and gave his side the much-needed hope in both the matches. He will be banking on his skills for another memorable spell.

Today's Match Prediction: Team batting second to win the match

Win probability: USA 40%, Netherlands 60%

Stats and trivia

USA captain Monank Patel is 77 runs away from becoming the first USA player to 1000 T20I runs.

Michael Levitt has smashed 50 sixes in 27 T20I innings for Netherlands. He's five sixes away from toppling O'Dowd's all-time Netherlands record in the format.

Netherlands are ranked 13th in the format while USA are 18th.

USA need to overturn history to beat Netherlands and stay alive

Netherlands are favourites for the T20 World Cup contest in Chennai, especially with USA battling injury issues

Big picture: USA need to break Netherlands duck to stay alive

After running India close in their opening game in Mumbai, USA were outplayed by Pakistan in Colombo in their second. A third successive defeat, against Netherlands on Friday, will knock them out of contention for the Super Eight stage. History is also against USA: they have not beaten Netherlands in three attempts in men's T20Is.

USA had earlier given New Zealand a scare during the warm-up fixture in Navi Mumbai, but injuries have weakened them since. Fast bowler Ali Khan is nursing a groin injury while Jasdeep Singh (shoulder injury) has been ruled out of the rest of the 2026 T20 World Cup, with former Pakistan fast bowler Ehsan Adil replacing him in the side. Adil was thrown into the XI straightaway in the second game, but ended up conceding 39 runs in three overs against the country of his birth at the Premadasa. It remains to be seen if Shubham Ranjane, who had hurt his knee, is back to full fitness.

USA are yet to nail down their opening combination: Saiteja Mukkamalla was left out after just one failure, against India. He was their most prolific batter in the lead-up to this World Cup and hit 50 off 31 balls in the warm-up match against New Zealand.

Netherlands will be high on confidence after easing past Namibia on the back of Bas de Leede's all-round effort in Delhi. They bat deep, with Roelof van der Merwe listed at No. 9, and also have a surfeit of bowling options. That depth was central to giving Pakistan a scare in the tournament opener. Netherlands are also familiar with Chennai conditions - their entire squad trained at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in the city for around a week last month.