T20 World Cup 2026: New Zealand faced Canada in the 31st match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Chennai, and the Kiwis made it look easy with a dominating win. With this victory, New Zealand punched their ticket to the Super 8s, joining South Africa from Group D. New Zealand finished their Group D campaign by winning three out of four matches.
On the other hand, that is the end of the road in the T20 world Cup 2026 for Canada, Afghanistan, and the UAE. This was the the first T20 International match between New Zealand and Canada. The two teams never faced each other in this format before.
Canada’s skipper, Dilpreet Singh Bajwa, won the toss and decided to bat first. The pitch looked good for batting and Yuvraj Samra took full advantage, smashing a century off just 58 balls. Still, Canada couldn’t really build around him as they finished on 173 for 4. Bajwa chipped in with 36 runs, but his strike rate lagged behind.
With this gusty century Yuvraj shaped a world record and a historic achievement. He became the youngest batsman in the world to score a century in ICC events. He also became the first Associate Nations batter to score a century in the T20 World Cup.
When New Zealand came out to chase, they stumbled early, losing two quick wickets. But those weren’t an issue as Glenn Phillips stepped up with a solid 76, and Rachin Ravindra added 59. Together, they steered New Zealand home without much fuss, reaching 174 in the 16th over.
That was three wins out of four for New Zealand in the league stage and there is no doubt that they’re rolling high at the moment. On the other side, this was Canada’s third consecutive defeat and will now play its last league match against Afghanistan.
New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell (c), Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy
Canada Playing XI: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (captain), Navneet Dhaliwal, Harsh Thaker, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wicketkeeper), Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Dillon Heyliger, Jaskaran Singh, Ansh Patel
Brief Score:
Canada: (173/4 in 20 overs, Yuvraj Samra- 110)
New Zealand: 176/2 in 15.1 overs, Glenn Phillips 76)
New Zealand won by 8 wickets
