- By Gurmeet Batra
- Tue, 10 Feb 2026 12:10 AM (IST)
- Source:PTI
South Africa vs Canada, T20 World Cup: Skipper Aiden Markram led from the front with a flamboyant half-century as South Africa registered a comprehensive 57-run win over Canada in their opening Group D T20 World Cup match here on Monday.
Sent in to bat, Markram blasted 10 fours and a six on way to a 59 off 32 balls. Ryan Rickelton (33), Quinton de Kock (25), Tristan Stubbs (34) and David Miller (39) also made useful contributions as South Africa posted 213 for 4 after being asked to take first strike.
In reply, Canada could manage just 156 for 8 in their stipulated 20 overs with Navneet Dhaliwal (64) emerging as their top scorer.
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Canada had a torrid start to their chase, losing skipper Dilpreet Bajwa who edged a Lungi Ngidi (4/31) delivery to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock in the first ball of the innings.
Thereafter, Dhaliwal and Yuvraj Samra piled up 17 runs in the first two overs before losing two wickets. Ngidi struck twin blows in the third over, first removing Samra as he edged one to de Kock and then two balls later cleaned up Kirton as Canada slumped to 26 for 3 in 3 overs.
Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker (33 off 29) shared 69 runs for the fifth wicket to take Canada forward. But left-arm pacer Marco Jansen (2/30) scalped two consecutive wickets in the 18th over to script the emphatic win. But the asking rate thereafter as too tall for Canada as they could only manage 156-8.
Earlier, Markram opened the floodgates with three boundaries off Dilon Heyliger in the second over. Quinton de Kock (25 off 22 balls) followed Markram, smashing Saad Bin Zafar for two consecutive fours over long-off.