After opening day fixtures for both sides that could have easily had the opposite outcomes, Pakistan and USA  face each other at a time the World Cup has finally found its feet. To the extent even the US President Donald Trump appeared to have found out about the tournament, weighing in to wish his side the best of luck ahead of their next game.

Pakistan come into the fixture with  a nervy win  sealed by Faheem Ashraf’s penultimate over heroics against the Netherlands, while the USA hunt for their first points on the board after Suryakumar Yadav’s fireworks denied them one of cricket’s greatest upsets over India.

USA, of course, know a thing or two about great cricketing upsets, having inflicted  one on this very opponent two years ago, when they took Pakistan to a Super Over before applying the knockout blow. They have spent the last week demonstrating they retain the capability to spring a similar surprise, after running New Zealand exceptionally close in a knockout game before that fright they gave India.

They will travel to Colombo from Mumbai and have little time to acclimatise, with less than 72 hours between the end of their previous game and the toss at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Once there, though, they know they have the ability to stifle Pakistan early on, just as they did with India. Injuries to Ali Khan and Shubham Ranjane could potentially cause bowling headaches, but in the disciplined seam of Shadley van Schalkwyk and the right and left arm spin of Mohammad Mohsin and Harmeet Singh, there were other avenues that discomfited India’s batters, too.

They will need more of a contribution from their top three, whose failure against India virtually sealed their fate in the first four overs, though the US will hope the likes of Andries Gous and captain Monank Patel have got their failure out of the way.

One misstep against Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup derailed New Zealand’s  entire campaign. Two years later, New Zealand flipped the script despite injuries and illness, their opening win against Afghanistan in the group of death, which also includes South Africa, raising their chances of making the next round. Next up, an unfamiliar opponent: just six players in New Zealand’s 15-man squad have faced UAE in international cricket before.

New Zealand can rely on intel from Mark Chapman, who had come up against UAE more often when he was playing for Hong Kong, and Lockie Ferguson, who is more familiar with the UAE players owing to his stint in the ILT20 as Desert Vipers’ captain. They certainly won’t take UAE lightly – in 2023, a New Zealand side that included the likes of Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert and Chapman was toppled by UAE in Dubai.

For UAE, this is a chance  for them to remind the world that they can challenge top teams after they had missed out on qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

UAE have won just one of their six games at the T20 World Cup, but thanks to the ILT20, most of their players are up to speed with the format. Their captain Muhammad Waseem is a serial six-hitter while Alishan Sharafu can be just as explosive and float in the batting line-up. Left-arm spinner Haider Ali can stifle batters with his accuracy in the powerplay while fast bowler Junaid Siddique can nail yorkers.

UAE beat Bangladesh recently in a bilateral T20I series and gave Pakistan a scare in the Asia Cup. They will be hoping to add more scalps in international cricket.

Rachin Ravindra  has had a rough build-up to this T20 World Cup. After illness forced him out of the warm-up game against USA in Navi Mumbai, he bagged a golden duck in New Zealand’s opening game against Afghanistan and conceded 14 runs in the only over he bowled, though he picked up the wicket of a well-set Gulbadin Naib. He will look to make a more substantial contribution on Tuesday.

This match is big for the teams involved. Netherlands vs Namibia  in Delhi won’t draw as many eyeballs as when subcontinental giants clash, but for the team that loses on Tuesday, it is the beginning of their end at the 2026 T20 World Cup. They have been placed in Group A alongside USA, India, and Pakistan. Only the top two make the Super Eights, and a loss will put either team on the brink of elimination.

Such a fate might seem particularly cruel for Namibia, who are the only team in the group to have not played a match yet. But like most Associate nations, they are used to jeopardy when they take the field – and they tackle it better than most of their peers. Their consistency has vaulted them to their fourth consecutive World Cup appearance after a competitive Africa qualifiers tournament. This match will also be their first T20I since October 2025; that last one was a final-over thriller they won in their first ever clash against South Africa.

Netherlands will be rueing a topsey-turvy contest against Pakistan  on Saturday that they were losing, then surely winning, and then losing again. Paul Van Meekeren did not mince his words in the aftermath of the contest: “I want to be very clear: Pakistan didn’t win the game today,  we lost the game against ourselves.”

Netherlands could have been on two points after causing an opening-day upset, but instead they enter this game knowing they cannot afford to let another winning situation slip past them.