India Eyes Perfect Group Stage vs Netherlands; Pakistan Battles Namibia

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.

Performance of both teams in their last 5 matches

India: L, W, W, W, W

Netherlands: L, NR, L, W, L

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c and wk), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar

Pakistan vs Namibia, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo (3:00 PM IST)

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.

Head-to-Head record between Pakistan and Namibia

Pakistan and Namibia have faced each other only one time in the T2OI. Both sides met each other in the T20 World Cup 2021, where Pakistan registered a dominant 45 runs win.

Performance of both teams in their last 5 matches

Pakistan: W, W, W, W, L

Namibia: L, W, L, L, L

Squads

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay

Namibia: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus(c), JJ Smit, Zane Green(wk), Ruben Trumpelmann, Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo, Malan Kruger, Alexander Volschenk, Jack Brassell, Jan Balt

- IANS