India look to extend winning run as Pakistan eye Super 8 spot with Namibia win

Defending champions India will look to extend their winning run when they clash against the Netherlands in their final Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The Group A match will start at 7:00 PM IST.

Led by captain Suryakumar Yadav, co-hosts India have already sealed their spot in the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup after registering comprehensive victories in all three matches so far.

The Men in Blue stormed into the Super Eight stage after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by 61 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

Earlier, India started their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign by beating the United States of America (USA) by 29 runs and later followed it by securing a dominant 93-run victory over Namibia.

On the other hand, the Scott Edwards-led Netherlands have displayed inconsistent performances throughout the tournament. The Dutchmen currently sit in fourth place with one win in three games. They are already eliminated from the tournament and now will look to end their campaign on a high note when they face India.

Head-to-head record between the teams India and the Netherlands have faced each other only once in T20 Internationals. The Men in Blue registered a comfortable 56-run win against the Dutch at the 2022 edition of the T20 Cup in Sydney.

India’s assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak said they are unlikely to experiment a lot and would rather maintain the status quo in the clash with the Netherlands and continue to build on the momentum for the Super 8 stage by remaining unbeaten in the league phase.

He said they would consider a change or two because of the conditions, but not because the match is not important.

“I don’t think there’ll be an experiment or anything. But yes, looking at the wicket and conditions, there might be something different. But I don’t really think that we look at it as a game which is not important, because I think every game is important, your team want to be in the same momentum.

“So for us, whether it is, I don’t think we think of it as a less pressure game or a more pressure game. We played the last game with the same intent. I think we will play the next game with the same intent as well,” said Kotak in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Netherlands clash.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will look to seal their Super 8s spot when they face Namibia in their final Group A match of the T20 World Cup 2026 to be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Wednesday.

Pakistan are coming into the contest after suffering a 61-run defeat against the defending champions, India, on Sunday. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Salman Agha’s team halted India to 175/7 in their 20 overs on a slow Colombo track, but their chase was disastrous as the team got all out for 114 runs in just 18 overs.

Despite the loss, Pakistan have four points to their name, which they got after registering two wins in their first two matches. If they win the match or the encounter gets abandoned due to rain, Salman Agha’s side will be through to the next stage. While a loss will eliminate them from the tournament, the USA, with a better net run rate, will proceed.

Namibia are already out of contention, but this is an opportunity to bow out on a high against a Pakistan side low on confidence. They have zero wins in the three matches they played so far in the tournament. The team will look to end their quest for the first win when they face Pakistan.

Agencies