India, Pakistan and West Indies managed to register wins in the opening day of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Pakistan survive Netherlands scare to win T20WC opener
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 kickstarted in perfect fashion as the opening delivery of the tournament was dispatched to the rope for four, setting the tone for the Dutch, who powered to 28 runs for no loss in the opening three overs.
But Pakistan fought back in the latter stages of the Powerplay, removing both openers to help have proceedings at 50/2 at the six-over mark.
The dismissal of Michael Levitt (24 off 15 balls) was a world class catch on the boundary, where outfield specialist Babar Azam combined superbly with Shaheen Afridi to keep the ball inside the rope and securely off the turf.
The Pakistan outfit continued their fight in the field, rallying to have the Dutch at 79/3 at the midpoint of the innings.
Consistent quality efforts in the field allowed Pakistan to restrict the Netherlands to 147 all out with a ball to spare. Captain Scott Edwards top-scored for the Dutch, making 37 off 29 to ensure his side had something to defend.
In the chase, Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan gave a stellar start to Pakistan with their attacking strokeplay. While Saim fell to Aryan Dutt after a 13-ball stay during which he added 24 runs. Sahibzada’s smashing display improved Pakistan’s scoring rate further as they were well on track of their ask.
However, the Dutch struck back in the middle overs, picking three wickets across two overs. Paul van Meekeren struck twice in an over, sending back the dangerous Sahibzada Farhan just short of his fifty, before Roelof van der Merwe got rid off Babar Azam, who fell to a great catch from Kyle Klein.
Momentum soon swung in the Netherlands’ favour as a superb bowling spell saw Pakistan lose five wickets for just 16 runs. The equation tightened sharply, with 29 required off the final 12 deliveries.
Faheem Ashraf smashed three sixes in the penultimate over to swing the momentum back Pakistan’s way, leaving just five required from the final over. Ashraf sealed the game for Pakistan with a boundary, with three balls to spare, handing Netherlands a heartbreaking defeat.
Hetmyer, Shepherd guide West Indies to victory
Scotland’s disciplined bowling in the first six overs kept West Indies in check, with the opening pair of Brandon King and Shai Hope managing just 33 runs in the powerplay.
West Indies attempted to accelerate soon after, but Scotland struck in quick succession. Michael Leask removed Shai Hope for 19 off 22 balls, before Brandon King departed six deliveries later following a steady 35 off 30.
Shimron Hetmyer’s arrival injected much-needed momentum into the West Indies innings. The left-hander raced to a fifty off just 22 balls, and with able support from Rovman Powell, West Indies surged into a strong position at 126/2 at the end of the 14th over.
Powell smashed a quick 24 off 14 before falling to Brad Currie. New batter Sherfane Rutherford ensured the momentum didn’t dip, blasting 26 off just 13 balls before Currie struck again to pick up his second. Shimron Hetmyer’s commanding 64 off 36 balls laid the bedrock of the West Indies innings, and his knock only came to an end when Brandon McMullen pulled off a stunning catch. West Indies eventually finished with a competitive total of 182.
Scotland struggled to capitalise on the powerplay as the West Indies bowlers struck thrice in the first six overs to seize control. Jason Holder removed opener Michael Jones before Romario Shepherd knocked over Brandon McMullen. Shamar Joseph then dismissed George Munsey in the final over of the powerplay, leaving Scotland in a precarious position at 38/3 after six overs.
In response, Richie Berrington and Tom Bruce steadied the innings and halted the fall of wickets with a much-needed 78-run partnership. Scotland were pushed onto the back foot again when Jason Holder dismissed skipper Richie Berrington for 42 off 24 balls, and in the very next over Gudakesh Motie trapped Tom Bruce lbw for 35 off 28.
Romario Shepherd ended any hopes of a Scotland victory with a brilliant 17th over, as the all-rounder picked up four wickets, including a hat-trick, the first of this edition of the tournament.
The over completely broke the back of Scotland’s run chase, with the visitors collapsing from 133/5 to 133/9. Soon after, Jason Holder picked up his third wicket by dismissing Mark Watt, sealing a 35-run victory for West Indies.
Suryakumar, bowlers help India overcome USA scare
The opening day of the T20 World Cup 2026 nearly braced itself for the most dramatic start as USA took the tournament favourites India head-on in the early stages of the game and found some success. But they lived and died by the PowerPlay sword. They reduced India to 46/3 but were themselves down to 31/3 in chase – offering a picture of how the evening eventually transpired.
Their bowlers came out to defy recent conventions of India being consistent batting bullies in this phase, and found jaw-dropping success. Placing a deep extra cover fielder for Abhishek Sharma earned them his wicket for a duck, and Ishan Kishan – who had repeatedly tonked balls over extra cover against New Zealand, found the same fielder with his hit off the slowest ball in the sixth over. Tilak Varma mistimed a pull and Shivam Dube, like Kishan, was undone by change of pace. USA found an unlikely ally in the sluggish Mumbai conditions and made the most of it, to leave India down to 46/4 in 6 overs.
The middle-overs didn’t turn out to be the phase of revival like India would’ve liked. Rinku Singh came to bat ahead of Hardik Pandya but like the batters before him, struggled to find coherence with timing the ball. He hummed and hawed until the 12th over before finding Milind Kumar at long-on with a mistimed hit. It was a kind of evening where even Hardik Pandya’s timing deserted him, leaving India down to 77 for 6 in the 13th over. Suryakumar Yadav then began to chance his arms a lot more than he did at the start, with Axar Patel standing ground at the other end. Two Saurabh Netravalkar overs at the death – worth 21 and 20, helped India find themselves out of the burrow. First in the 16th, Axar punished width with a four behind point and followed it up by guiding a slower one to the third man fence.
Suryakumar then jumped in and finished the over with a four and a six over deep mid-wicket. Harmeet Singh dented India in the following over with Axar’s wicket, but Arshdeep Singh arrived swinging. He carted a four down the ground to wrap up the over. Shubham Ranjane conceded a boundary to Suryakumar on the first ball of the 18th over that brought up the India captain’s half-century, but only six runs came from it.
Suryakumar started the 19th over onslaught by hitting a four over extra cover off a slower one before slog-sweeping fast bowler Shadley van Schalkwyk for a six. Netravalkar tried cutters and slower ones but only watched them fly the distance. Suryakumar smashed two fours and two sixes – shuffling across, falling over and still connecting well. It dragged India to 161/9.
Now for the death in the PowerPlay. USA lost Andries Gous in the second over when he slashed one to Tilak Varma at cover point, giving Mohammed Siraj a wicket on his T20I return for the first time since July 2024. Arshdeep Singh removed Monank Patel first ball in the third over, as USA’s top-order struggled to grapple with India’s fuller lengths early on. Saiteja Mukkamalla became Siraj’s second wicket in the fourth over, when he flicked one to Varun CV at mid-wicket. Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi arrested the slide but USA limped to 31/3 in 6 overs, with a lot of quick catching up to do to turn the evening around.
But despite the fighting efforts of this pair, that wasn’t to be. They added 58 off 52 deliveries, dragging their stand until the 12th over. Varun found a way through, to pick his first T20I World Cup wicket in four matches, as he had Milind stumped. Kishan fumbled a touch but managed to break the stumps on time and cleanly. Sanjay and Shubham Ranjane threatened to keep the chase going even as they needed 64 off the last five overs.
But a double-wicket over from Axar Patel left the chasing side well behind. Axar took out Sanjay and Harmeet Singh off successive deliveries and Hardik Pandya followed that up with a four-run over to put India on the cusp. Arshdeep then returned and dismissed Mohammad Mohsin. USA were seven down and the equation was 51 off 12 balls. India eventually took the two points with a 29-run victory.
