South Africa launched their T20 World Cup 2026 journey on a triumphant note, defeating Canada by 57 runs in their Group D opening match in Ahmedabad on Monday. Following their decision to bat first after losing the toss, skipper Aiden Markram struck 59 runs, supported by valuable innings from Ryan Rickelton, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs, propelling South Africa to an imposing total of 213/4 across 20 overs. In their bowling effort, Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi claimed four wickets, while Canada’s Navneet Dhaliwal fought valiantly with 64 runs in a losing cause. Canada finished at 156/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
TOSS
Canada won the toss and elected to field first.
PLAYING XI
Canada (Playing XI):
Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa(c), Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
South Africa (Playing XI):
Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa may have lost the coin flip, but that proved to be their only setback of the day. Playing on a bowler-friendly surface in Ahmedabad, captain Markram flourished, displaying the elegant strokeplay that defines his batting approach. Quinton de Kock appeared unusually restrained compared to his typical aggressive style, even benefiting from a dropped catch when Ansh Patel failed to hold a routine opportunity at short third-man with the score on five. The left-handed opener subsequently capitalized against Saad Bin Zafar’s left-arm spin, though it was Markram who took charge during the PowerPlay, helping South Africa accumulate 66 runs in that crucial period.
De Kock eventually succumbed to his familiar weakness against right-arm off-spin, bowled by opposing captain Dilpreet Bajwa. Ryan Rickelton displayed remarkable timing and rhythm, building the innings alongside Markram, who reached his fifty milestone. A productive 11th over yielding 17 runs indicated a substantial total was on the cards, as Rickelton and Markram dismantled Saad’s bowling figures.
Basically after Markram got out to a brilliant catch by Heyliger at long-on, the same thing happened to Rickelton and Brevis who fell quickly one after another. Spinner Ansh actually took all these wickets, but he definitely left some chances for Canada to fight back.
However, this surely did not happen as Tristan Stubbs and David Miller first made the innings stable and moreover launched a full attack during the final overs. As per the match details, 47 runs came in the last three overs regarding Stubbs’ attack on Jaskarandeep Singh’s bowling. Basically, South Africa hit three sixes in the last over and scored 213 for 4, which is the same as the highest total in this T20 World Cup.
CANADA-
Moreover, we are seeing Canada’s batting start very badly as Bajwa got out on the first ball only, trying to leave the ball but his bat touched it and went straight to wicket-keeper de Kock. Ngidi surely found success from his very first ball and moreover troubled the batsmen with his hard-length deliveries in the third over, dismissing both Yuvraj Samra and Nicholas Kirton to put Canada in a difficult position. Basically Kagiso Rabada knocked down Shreyas Movva’s off stump and Canada lost their fourth wicket in the same PowerPlay.
Navneet Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker showed strong batting together, further building a partnership of 69 runs for the fifth wicket itself. The required run rate actually kept going up fast even though Dhaliwal and Thaker definitely tried their best to not give up too early. Basically, Ngidi came back and got his fourth wicket by taking Thaker out, and then Dhaliwal hit his fifty runs. Further, marco Jansen actually scored twice more, which definitely made things worse for Canada who were already losing badly. After that, Canada just played without any real effort.
Dhaliwal actually got out on the first ball of the last over when Corbin Bosch definitely got his wicket. We are seeing the all-rounder doing his job very well with only 1 wicket for 27 runs, and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj also bowled nicely to finish off a big win for the 2024 finalists.
Brief Scores:
We are seeing South Africa scoring 213 runs with only 4 wickets lost in 20 overs, where Markram made 59 runs and Miller remained not out on 39 runs, while Ansh Patel took 3 wickets for 31 runs. Canada could only manage 156 runs losing 8 wickets in their 20 overs with Dhaliwal scoring 64 runs, but Ngidi took 4 wickets and Jansen got 2 wickets, so South Africa
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