Canada look for early splash against favourites South Africa
South Africa, still carrying the scars of their near-miss in 2024, begin another T20 World Cup as heavy favourites in familiar Ahmedabad conditions
Ashish Pant
Feb 8, 2026, 11:53 AM • 16 hrs ago
Big picture - South Africa overwhelming favourites
There isn't a "favourite in this tournament", Kagiso Rabada insisted on the day before the opening game of the T20 World Cup 2026. It was a thought echoed by Aiden Markram, who felt "an upset can happen" in T20Is, which may be true in theory. In practice, though, South Africa will begin their T20 World Cup as overwhelming favourites against Canada in Ahmedabad.
South Africa came as close to winning a T20 World Cup as ever before in 2024, falling heartbreakingly short in the final. Nine of the 15 who were part of the squad then are back again, and South Africa will hope to go one step further this time around. It's not been easy for South Africa since that final in Barbados. Granted they haven't always played at full strength in T20Is, but since July 2024, South Africa have lost 20 out of 32 T20Is.
Between the two editions, South Africa have also lost Heinrich Klaasen, who retired from international cricket. But the good news is that they have found a solid replacement in Dewald Brevis, while Quinton de Kock has looked in sensational touch since his u-turn on ODI retirement. South Africa have a settled top-order, with captain Markram and de Kock leading the front, and in Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, they have one of the best fast-bowling attacks. They are also coming into the tournament following a 2-1 series win against West Indies at home.
South Africa play three of their four group games in Ahmedabad, where the tracks are expected to be high-scoring. They will want to get a handle on the surface early as they target going deep into the tournament again.
For Canada, who are playing their second T20 World Cup, it is about trying to test the hierarchy. They have a new captain in Dilpreet Bajwa, while former captain Nicholas Kirton is also part of the setup. They lost both their warm-up games - to Italy and Nepal - but have enough power in the squad to challenge the best.
In Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh and Navneet Dhaliwal, Canada have experience, while the likes of Yuvraj Samra and Bajwa will provide the youthful energy. The opening day showed that the Associates are no pushovers and Canada will try to continue the trend.
Form guide
South Africa LWWLL
Canada WWWWW
Canada WWWWW
In the spotlight: Dewald Brevis and Yuvraj Samra
Dewald Brevis has come a long way since he announced himself at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup. An IPL contract followed, he was fast-tracked into the national setup, but did not quite do justice to that talent. Brevis has now gone back to playing like he did at 19 and the runs are starting to flow. He was the second-highest run-scorer at the SA20 2026, which included a sensational century in the final. He had a lukewarm T20I series against West Indies but is a crucial part of the South Africa middle-order. Watch out for those no-look sixes.
At 19, Yuvraj Samra might be the youngest of the 15 members in the Canada squad but he's made a strong case. He's hit 27 sixes in just 16 T20Is and boasts a career-strike rate of 160.72, which balloons to 194.57 when opening the batting. He opened in the two warm-up games, and while Canada were on the wrong side of the result both times, he showed glimpses of his power in a 23-ball 33 against Italy. Samra is yet to play an international game against a Full Member nation.
Team news - Stubbs or Smith?
South Africa are deciding between Jason Smith and Tristan Stubbs for the finisher's role. Smith played all three T20Is against West Indies and scored a ten-ball 26 in the third game. Stubbs, meanwhile, was a late inclusion into the quad after Donovan Ferreira was ruled out due to a fractured shoulder. South Africa might go with four fast bowlers, Jansen, Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi, with Keshav Maharaj the lone spinner.
South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs/Jason Smith, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Shreyas Movva had an excellent warm-up game against Nepal and could get the nod ahead of Harsh Thaker. Samra and Bajwa are expected to open the batting.
Canada (probable): 1 Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), 2 Yuvraj Samra, 3 Navneet Dhaliwal, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva, 6 Kanwarpal Tathgur (wk), 7 Jaskaran Singh, 8 Saad Bin Zafar, 9 Shivam Sharma, 10 Dilon Heyliger, 11 Kaleem Sana
Pitch and conditions - Runs, runs and runs
Ahmedabad is known for big runs. The average first-innings score in eight T20Is here is 189. In the last four matches here, that number jumps to 230. In IPL 2025, the average first-innings score in Ahmedabad was 216, with scores of 200 breached 11 times in 18 innings. It is a massive ground, which is likely not fill up much, and that could be a factor.
The temperature in the evening is likely to hover around late 20-degrees and it is expected to get cooler as the night progresses. Dew could be a factor.
Stats and trivia - A first T20I meeting
- This is Canada's first T20I against South Africa. The only time they have played them in an international game was in back in 2003 in an ODI
- De Kock is 86 runs away from 3000 T20I runs. He is already South Africa's leading run-scorer in the format
- Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada, both on 78 wickets, are 12 away from surpassing Tabraiz Shamsi as the leading wicket-taker for South Africa in T20Is
- De Kock's T20I strike-rate of 189.65 since the start of 2025 is the fifth-best among Full Member nations [minimum 100 balls faced]
- Yuvraj Samra holds the record for the fastest fifty for a Canada player off 15 balls
Quotes
"You look at the games that have already happened, upsets in previous World Cups have happened and the gap between the associate nations now and the other countries has become a lot smaller. We've seen it even now at the start of this World Cup, there's been some close ones and games could have swung either way or it was on a bit of a knife's edge and I think that on its own is actually quite exciting to watch"
- Aiden Markram is not taking Canada lightly
- Aiden Markram is not taking Canada lightly
"We are well prepared. We are waiting for that upset as well and I think South Africa, they're not going to take us lightly. We are here to play cricket. They are here to play cricket. So good luck."
- Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa
- Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo