Canada bowl against pace-heavy South Africa
There was no room for Anrich Nortje even as South Africa picked four quicks, with Keshav Maharaj as their spin option
ESPNcricinfo staff
Feb 9, 2026, 1:28 PM • 12 hrs ago
Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada will lead South Africa's pace attack • ICC/Getty Images
Toss Canada chose to bowl vs South Africa
Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and asked South Africa to bat in their World Cup opener in Ahmedabad.
South Africa have opted for a pace-heavy attack. Keshav Maharaj slots in as their only spinner, alongside the speedy quartet of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. Tristan Stubbs also begins the tournament at the No. 6 spot - a position Jason Smith had occupied in their last T20I, while Stubbs had slid down to No. 7. Smith is in the World Cup squad but did not find a spot in South Africa's starting eleven.
South Africa's pace is expected to get the most out of a characteristically flat Ahmedabad black-soil pitch. But first, their batters will have a hit in a game they begin as overwhelming favourites against Canada, who are their second World Cup.
Canada's new captain, Bajwa, will lead the side at a global tournament for the first time. He also slots in at the top of the order, alongside Yuvraj Samra, and their batting power will be key to their hopes of causing a massive upset.
Canada have lost both their warm-up games - to Italy and Nepal - but should their batters come off on a friendly pitch, South Africa will look to have the added insurance of a few more runs in the bank before dew takes over when Canada begin their chase at night.
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Canada: 1 Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), 2 Yuvraj Samra, 3 Navneet Dhaliwal, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva, 6 Harsh Thaker, 7 Saad Bin Zafar, 8 Jaskaran Singh, 9 Dilon Heyliger, 10 Kaleem Sana, 11 Ansh Patel