The USA cricket team, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Arjun Mahesh, has secured a place in the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia next year.

The team sealed their spot with a game in hand by convincingly beating Canada, Bermuda and Argentina in the double round-robin qualifier played in Rydal, Georgia.

USA registered a 65-run win over Canada, followed by big victories against Bermuda and Argentina, which put them in the driver’s seat at the halfway stage of the competition. US bowlers then came up with some more fine performances to beat Bermuda and Argentina in the return leg to score 10 points and secure a World Cup berth.

Among the top performers for USA, top-order batsman Amrinder Singh Gill scored 199 runs in three innings, while the spin-bowling duo of Ansh Rai and Sahir Bhatia took seven wickets each.

The top-10 teams from the 2024 edition in South Africa have secured automatic qualification for the 2026 event, along with Full Member hosts Zimbabwe. The remaining five spots were decided through regional qualifiers around the world.

The automatically qualified teams in the tournament are Zimbabwe, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies, while USA, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Japan and Scotland have come through regional qualifying competitions.