India defeat Netherlands by 17 runs in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A clash

India’s unbeaten run in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 stayed intact with a comfortable 17-run win over the Netherlands in their Group A match played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. India elected to bat after winning the toss and posted an imposing 193 for six in their stipulated 20 overs, a target which eventually proved too stiff for a spirited Netherlands outfit.

India’s innings began to a shaky start after Abhishek Sharma was out for a duck in the opening over and Ishan Kishan fell shortly after his breezy cameo. But Tilak Varma and skipper Suryakumar Yadav got the innings back on track with a calculative stand that kept the scoreboard moving. The game changed when Shivam Dube launched a vicious counter-attack and scored 66 from 31 balls. His explosive stroke play, particularly against the spinners and in the death overs, turned the momentum firmly in India’s favour. Hardik Pandya made useful runs at the end of the innings as India achieved a formidable run rate of 9.65.

In response, the Netherlands started slowly and found themselves behind the eight-ball in the powerplay with only 36 runs from their first six overs. There were intentions set at the top by Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd, but wickets fell regularly that did not allow the visitors to build any considerable partnership. There was a brief flicker of hope when Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann went on the attack in the middle overs, but it meant that the much-improved required run rate kept rising.

India’s bowlers stuck to their plans well, and Varun Chakaravarthy produced a match-winning spell of 3 for 14 to puncture the backbone of Netherlands’ chase. Jasprit Bumrah was at it again, putting on display his class with a tight and mean spell in which Shivam Dube chipped in with two wickets to add to his heroics with the bat. Late hitting from Noah Croes added some excitement to the chase but the target was too steep, and Netherlands ended on 176 for 7.

With this victory, India further consolidated their place in Group A of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 while Netherlands would aim to re-group themselves soon into the tournament.

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