T20 World Cup: Saiteja Mukkamalla, Harmeet Singh fashion big win for USA against Netherlands

CHENNAI: Even before the World Cup caravan rolled into town, USA’s young gun Saiteja Mukkamalla had quietly done his homework. In late Dec, alongside senior pro Smit Patel, who eventually missed out on the squad for the WC, he spent over a week in the city, soaking in the conditions here.Having trained under legend VVS Laxman and with Chepauk favourite Albie Morkel at Texas Super Kings in the MLC, Mukkamalla sharpened his skills at the Chennai Super Kings Academy against different surfaces. On Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, that groundwork bore fruit. The 21-year-old, with Andhra roots, produced a stellar 79 (51b; 5x4, 4x6) to set up USA’s commanding 93-run win over the Netherlands. It was the Americans’ first win of the campaign and their maiden T20I victory against the Dutch. The huge victory boosted their net run rate and kept their slim hopes alive. The defeat dealt a major blow to the Netherlands’ qualification prospects.While Mukkamalla’s classy batting propelled USA to a strong 196-6, left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh (4/21) took full advantage of the helpful pitch in Chennai's first night game of the tournament. Harmeet and the USA bowlers kept the Dutch chase on a tight leash and eventually skittled them out for just 103 in 15.5 overs. Asked to bat, USA came out all guns blazing, racing to 53-1 in the Powerplay. Mukkamalla, who was benched in USA’s previous outing against Pakistan, made his return count and stitched a vital 55-run stand with skipper Monank Patel (36) for the second wicket. He went on to carry the tempo, even after the well-set partnership was broken, by mixing caution with calculated aggression.The American even got down on one knee and lofted an exquisite shot over covers to bring up his half-century, a stroke that had the near-19,000 crowd on its feet. Exploiting the shorter off-side boundaries, Mukkamalla kept the scoreboard ticking with smart placement of the shots. At one stage, both a maiden tournament century and the 200-run mark target seemed within touching distance, especially with Mukkamalla joining forces with in-form Shubham Ranjane (48*, 24balls; 3x4, 2x6). The pair built a brisk 54-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Dutch paceman Bas de Leede (3-37), clever with his variations, forced Mukkamalla to mistime a pull as Colin Ackermann at deep backward square held on to the catch. USA lost three wickets in the death overs but still squeezed out 48 runs, courtesy of Ranjane’s late flourish which was enough to seal the crucial must-win contest. Brief scores: USA 196 for 6 (Mukkamalla 79, Ranjane 48*, de Leede 3-37) beat Netherlands 103 (de Leede 23, Harmeet 4-21, van Schalkwyk 3-21) by 93 runs.