'Associate Crime' At ICC T20 World Cup 2026: When Minnows Let Off The Giants - A Lowdown

The ICC T20 World Cup never fails to miss out from delivering moments that become core cricketing memories. Take this year's edition as example. The Minnows, who are the Associate nations in official terms, missed out on a giant killing spree that would have truly blow up the internet.

The Netherlands, USA, Nepal and Ireland are among those nations that fell short due to their inexperience, but after making the giants reel in front of them and fight hard for the victory.

Although we have witnessed giant killing before from teams like Ireland, Netherlands and Zimbabwe, this year we could have had a whole series of matches turning against the favourites and setting the T20 World Cup on fire on the first day itself.

A Dropped Catch - That's All It Takes To Lose

No one better than Max O'Dowd at the moment to talk about the importance of not dropping a catch. He could have also dropped his team a possible shot at the Super 8 spots in Group A after giving a lifeline to Pakistan's Faheem Ashraf, who later snatched the win from the Dutch unit.

The Netherlands had done everything right except for holding their nerves during the high pressure moments. As Paul van Meekeren noted, the Dutch didn't lose to a superior performance, rather they handed Pakistan a victory that the Men in Green hadn't truly earned.

Surya's Solo Outing Pushed USA Away From Contention

Later on in the same day, USA made their intentions very clear when they knocked off the entire Indian batting line-up, known for its flamboyance and explosiveness, in T20 cricket nowadays.

The American bowling attack swept away India's top and lower middle-order with the co-hosts being reduced to 6 wickets at one point before Suryakumar Yadav took off and stabilised the innings at Wankhede.

Though the margin was of just 30 runs, USA did miss a massive chance to not only up their tempo but also let the other teams know about their real quality.

In the same venue, Nepal had no one else to blame but themselves after they agonizingly fell short by just 4 runs from winning their T20 World Cup 2026 opener against 2-time champions England.

Chasing 185, Dipendra Singh Airee’s 44 and Lokesh Bam’s explosive 39 off 20 balls forced England’s stars into a defensive panic. Despite plundering 22 runs off a Jofra Archer over, Nepal finished on 180/6 as Sam Curran defended ten runs in the final six balls.

Ireland Making The Same Mistakes

Last but not the least, Ireland, much like the USA, had the co-hosts on their knees despite the result being a 20-run defeat.

Having choked the boundaries for nearly ten overs before a late explosion from Kamindu Mendis (44 off 19) lifted Sri Lanka to 163.

Ireland’s chase of 164 looked comfortable at 105/2, but a dramatic collapse saw them lose eight wickets for just 38 runs, eventually falling 20 runs short.