ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 21: USA vs Netherlands | Preview and Predictions

The USA will take on the Netherlands in Match 21 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on February 13, 2026. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 21: USA vs Netherlands | 19:00 IST, February 13, 2026

Two defeats in two games have all but sealed the USA’s fate in this edition of the T20 World Cup. After a spirited performance against India in their opening group encounter, Monank Patel and Co failed to replicate their performance from two years ago against Pakistan in Colombo.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, the US bowlers didn’t taste success until the last over of the Powerplay, when Shadley van Schalkwyk once again stepped up and provided a double breakthrough. However, the rest of the American bowling attack was unable to contain Sahibzada Farhan (73 off 41) and Babar Azam (46 off 32), as Pakistan posted a challenging 190/9 on the board.

Chasing 191 on a slow and turning wicket was always going to be difficult, and losing both Andries Gous and Monank Patel early into the chase did the US little good. However, Shayan Jahangir’s 49 off 34 and Shubham Ranjane’s 51 off 30 did give them a glimmer of hope, but it was too steep an ask, and they fell short by 32 runs in the end.

Their opponents, the Netherlands, still mathematically stand a chance of qualifying for the Super 8 stage, though a lot of things need to go their way, including them winning this clash on Friday.

After narrowly missing out on a win against Pakistan in the opening Group A fixture, the Dutch faced Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Match 10. Having won the toss and elected to bowl first, Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek were once again excellent with their tight control and discipline with the new ball. Despite not picking up many wickets in the middle overs, the Netherlands kept piling the pressure on the Namibian batters with tight lengths and were eventually rewarded for their persistence with breakthroughs towards the back end of the innings, as the new batters struggled to get going from the get-go.

Chasing a modest score of 157, Michael Levitt and Colin Ackermann once again contributed with quick cameos, though it was all-rounder Bas de Leede’s unbeaten 72 off 48 that guided the Netherlands to a comfortable seven-wicket victory with 12 balls to spare, thus giving them much-needed confidence ahead of this crucial group stage encounter.

In terms of the weather forecast and pitch report, expect conditions to be clear throughout the game. As evident from the last couple of games here at Chepauk, the pitches are batting friendly, with very little assistance for the bowlers. Expect teams batting first to post scores around 170–190.

Looking ahead to this fixture, the USA have looked decent across both their fixtures but have nothing to show for it. The Netherlands, on the other hand, have produced two very good performances and should come into this fixture with more confidence.

Comparing the overall strength and confidence levels across the two camps, we’re backing the Netherlands to win this fixture.

Fantasy XI: Andries Gous, Michael Levitt, Shayan Jahangir, Bas de Leede (c), Milind Kumar, Colin Ackermann, Shubham Ranjane (vc), Scott Edwards, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 
Winners Prediction: Netherlands