AHMEDABAD: A half-century from Aiden Markram and four wickets from Lungi Nkiti helped South Africa to a 57-run win over Canada in their Group D match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Chasing a tough target of 214 to win, Canada posted 156/8 in 20 overs despite Navneet Dhaliwal’s half-century.
Walking out to bat at number 3 with a scoreboard of 0/1 in 0.1 overs, Thaliwal tracked their batting journey till the first delivery of the last over, scoring a brave 64 off 49 balls with 7 fours and a six.
The top-order batsman shared a 69-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Harsh Thacker, who scored 33 off 29 balls.
Apart from them, only Yuvraj Sharma (12) and Saad bin Jafar scored double figures against South Africa’s bowling attack, who led Nkiti with four wickets for 31 runs in his four overs, earning him the man of the match award.
Marco Johnson picked up 2 wickets for Ngdi, while Kagiso Rabada and Corbin Bosch chipped in with a scalp each.
Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa’s decision to bowl first backfired as the previous edition’s runners-up scored 213/4 in their 20 overs.
The Proteas got off to a brilliant start to their innings as their experienced opening pair of captain Markram and Quinton de Kock added 70 runs in seven overs.
Canada finally got the breakthrough with skipper Bajwa cleaning up De Kock in the final delivery of the seventh over. The left-handed batsman scored 25 runs off 22 balls with the help of 2 fours.
Markram put on a crucial 56-run partnership for the second wicket with Ryan Rickeldon until he fell victim to Ansh Patel in the 12th over and went on to top score 59 with 10 fours and a six.
Patel struck twice in his next over, dismissing set batsman Rickeldon, who scored 31 off 22 balls, including three fours and a six, and Devald Previs, who hit a six.
With the scoreboard reading 138/4 in 13.5 overs, middle-order pair David Miller and Tristan Stubbs put on an unbeaten 75 for the fifth wicket to ensure a strong finish for South Africa.
Miller scored an unbeaten 39 off 23 balls with 3 sixes and a four, while Stubbs scored an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls with two sixes and several fours.
Patel took 3 for 31 in his four overs and Bajwa scalped one.