Aiden Markram scored 50 off 28 balls and Lungi Ngidi took 4-31 as South Africa beat Canada by 57 runs in their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 opener at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Navneet Dhaliwal hit 64 off 49 deliveries for the underdogs, who lost four wickets in their first six overs of the Group D contest after 2024 finalists South Africa posted 2013-4.
The victors are on two points alongside New Zealand, who beat Afghanistan by five wickets in Chennai on Sunday.
South Africa vs Canada: ICC T20 World Cup 2026
Having lost the decider at the last edition by seven runs to India, South Africa are expected to be among the contenders to depose the reigning champions and have a squad featuring nine of the 15 players from that campaign.
In their second appearance at the tournament, Canada – with new captain Dilpreet Bajwa – had lost warm-up games to Italy and Nepal but performed creditably against an unfamiliar level of pace, Dhaliwal forming a fifth-wicket partnership of 69 with Harsh Thaker.
David Miller, whose fitness had been in doubt until last week because of an adductor muscle strain, also scored an unbeaten 39 for South Africa.
Lungi Ngidi: South Africa ‘trial and error’ vs Canada
Player of the Match Ngidi said the Proteas had “struggled” with a game plan against “guys who you haven’t seen much of”.
“It was trial and error as we were going,” admitted the 29-year-old. “Some of the balls were going for boundaries, and then we would shift and have a chat in the middle and try something different.
“We knew our attack brings pace but the variations are always the ones that catch people out. I try to do what I do best: keep it simple, good length and then keep changing up the pace to keep guys guessing.
“I have to find a way to take wickets and I’m willing to take risks. That’s the way I play the T20 game.”
South Africa vs Canada teams
South Africa XI: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, and Lungi Ngidi
Canada XI: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskarandeep Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, and Ansh Patel
South Africa, Canada T20 cricket World Cup fixtures
South Africa are next in action against Afghanistan at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday (05:30 GMT).
They then face New Zealand in the same setting on Saturday (13:30).
Canada take on the UAE at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Friday (09:30). They then meet New Zealand at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday (05:30).
South Africa ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad
Aiden Markram (c), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs
Canada ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad
Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Ajayveer Hundal, Ansh Patel, Dilon Heyliger, Harsh Thaker, Jaskarandeep Singh, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Shreyas Movva, Yuvraj Samra
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