T20 World Cup 2026: On Monday, South Africa took on Canada in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2026. Under the naked eye, there is no doubt that it was a pretty one-sided clash. South Africa just steamrolled their way to victory. They batted first, put up a huge score, and never really let Canada get into the game.
Aiden Markram opened with some real intent. He smashed 59 from just 32 balls—10 boundaries and a six for good measure. Quinton de Kock chipped in with a steady 25 and Riyan Rickelton added a quick 33. David Miller, always reliable in the middle order, hammered 39 off 23, while Tristan Stubbs kept the runs flowing with 34 off 19. By the end of 20 overs, South Africa had piled up 213 for 4. For Canada, Ansh Patel gave it everything and picked up 3 wickets for 31 runs in his 4 overs, while Dilpreet Bajwa managed to snag one.
As it came time to chase, Canada stumbled right out of the gate. Their skipper, Dilpreet Bajwa, was gone first ball. Yuvraj Sharma tried to fight back but only made 12. The one bright spot? Navneet Dhaliwal at number three—he stood tall and knocked out 64 off 49, but it just wasn’t enough.
Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva barely got started, and the rest of the lineup couldn’t close the gap. The asking rate thereafter as too tall for Canada as they could only manage 156-8. Canada finished with 156 for 8 after 20 overs. Lungi Ngidi took charge with the ball for South Africa, grabbing 4 wickets for 31 runs. In the end, South Africa won by 57 runs—never really looked threatened.
South Africa Playing- XI: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
Canada Playing- XI: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel.
