Dallas: The United States are one victory away from sealing the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 crown after Milind Kumar’s unbeaten 116 powered the highest successful run chase in the country’s ODI history against the UAE at Grand Prairie Stadium on Monday.
Chasing the UAE’s imposing 330 for 8, the USA reached the target with seven balls to spare, completing a chase of 331 that stands as the second-highest successful pursuit in League 2 history. The win took the Americans to the top of the standings — and, according to the ICC, they now need just one more win from their remaining fixtures in the Dallas tri-series to lock up first place.
Where the table stands
The USA sit top with 45 points from 33 matches (22 wins, 10 defeats, one no-result), level on points with Scotland but ahead on the classification order. Scotland, crucially, have completed all 36 of their fixtures and cannot add to their tally. The Netherlands are third on 38 points with matches in hand, while Oman (31), Namibia (29), Canada (25), Nepal (24) and the UAE (19) complete the eight-team table.
The arithmetic is simple: one more American victory takes them to 47 points, beyond what any rival can reach, and with it the League 2 title. For a team that only gained ODI status in 2019, finishing top of a two-and-a-half-year competition would be a landmark achievement.
What the crown actually unlocks
It is worth being precise about what League 2 decides — and what it does not. The top four teams advance directly to the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, a ten-team tournament scheduled for February and March 2027. The bottom four drop into the Qualifier Play-off, a longer and far more treacherous route. From the Qualifier itself, four teams earn passage to the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The USA have already secured their Qualifier place — that box was ticked some time ago. The crown, then, is about prestige and momentum rather than qualification arithmetic: arriving at the Qualifier as League 2 champions carries psychological weight, and for a programme still building its identity, a title is a powerful statement to players, sponsors and the ICC alike.
The bigger prize remains the World Cup itself. The USA have never appeared at a 50-over World Cup. Their T20 side’s heroics at the 2024 T20 World Cup — beating Pakistan in Dallas remains one of the great upsets — showed what this group can do on the big stage. A first ODI World Cup appearance would be the defining moment in American cricket history.
Milind Kumar’s golden campaign
No story of this League 2 run can be told without Milind Kumar. The 35-year-old’s unbeaten 116 off 84 balls against the UAE — decorated with seven fours and five sixes — was his fifth ODI century, and it carried him past Monank Patel to become the USA’s most prolific six-hitter in men’s ODIs with 38 maximums.
The innings was a masterclass in pacing a chase. Walking in with the asking rate climbing, Kumar found an ideal partner in Shubham Ranjane (57 not out), the pair adding an unbroken 160 for the fifth wicket to overhaul a total that had looked well beyond reach. The previous American record chase — 294 for 7 against Nepal, also in Dallas, in 2024 — was left well behind.
Kumar has been the tournament’s defining batter, the sort of seasoned professional around whom associate campaigns are built. His move past Patel in the six-hitting charts is symbolic: this is a side now producing its own record-holders rather than borrowing them.
What comes next
The immediate task is finishing the job in Dallas. One win from the remaining tri-series fixtures seals first place, and with Scotland’s challenge already complete, the Americans control their own destiny entirely.
Beyond that, attention turns to the Qualifier in February-March 2027, where the USA will face full-member opposition and the other League 2 and play-off survivors for four World Cup berths. The 2024 T20 World Cup proved this team does not fear reputations. If the League 2 crown is secured in the coming days, the USA will head into the Qualifier not as plucky underdogs but as champions of their division — and genuine contenders for a historic first World Cup appearance.
