Chennai, Feb 13 (IANS) The USA captain Monank Patel hailed his side’s intent and collective responsibility after they registered a commanding 93-run victory over the Netherlands in a Group A clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.

After the USA posted 196/6 and then bowled the Netherlands out for 103, Monank emphasised that clarity of approach made the difference.

“Firstly, really happy with the way we played today. Losing the toss and being asked to bat first wasn’t easy; the wicket was holding a bit. But I thought the intent we showed was excellent. That was something we were missing in the first two games, and as a batting group, we came back really strongly. The top four took responsibility, played with intent, and got us to a very good score. Initially, we wanted to assess the pitch and see how it was behaving. Once we got a feel for it and settled in, the plan was to make sure we punished the bad balls, show intent, and put the bowlers under pressure. That was very clear in our thinking,” he said during the post-match presentation.

The skipper emphasised that belief in the batting group was evident even before the tournament began, citing their preparation phase.

“We prepared really well in the warm-up games. We scored 200 against India and New Zealand. It was never about ability; it was just about showing that intent consistently, especially in the first two World Cup games. It was a tough start to the World Cup for us, but we’ve learned a lot from those matches, and that’s helped us. After Shayan got out, the message I sent was that it was a 170-run pitch. With the quality of spinners we had in our bowling attack, I thought 170 would be a very competitive total if we batted well,” he said.

Saiteja Mukkamalla was a major factor in the USA’s strong total, scoring 79 to anchor the innings. Monank specially praised the young batter for his maturity and sense of responsibility, saying, “He’s an incredible talent for the USA. The way he’s been batting over the last two years, it feels like he’s been playing international cricket for 10 years. He’s a very mature player. Credit to him – he took responsibility. We’ve been talking about the top three, that one of them needs to bat through the innings, and the way he did that today was fantastic to watch.”

Monank also lauded left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, whose four-wicket haul derailed the Dutch chase as he said, “I thought the way he attacked the stumps, used his pace, and invited the batters to take risks was outstanding. He bowled brilliantly and gave us that early momentum.”

–IANS

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