South Africa check all the right boxes with tougher challenges ahead

And just like that, South Africa posted the highest total of the T20 World Cup 2026 and their sixth over 200 in tournament history. Considering that there are only 20 totals over 200 in T20 World Cups, South Africa should and will be satisfied with their efforts despite the caveats.

The pitch was fairly flat, they were up against an opposition who have not played in seven months and are still inexperienced at World Cups, but that doesn't take away from South Africa's aims. This fixture was always a case of: get the job done, and hope to tick a couple of bonus boxes. That South Africa managed that will please them most.

Aiden Markram's half-century, the 75-run stand between David Miller and Tristan Stubbs, and Lungi Ngidi's four-for were the best outcomes from their 57-run win over Canada, for reasons larger than the contest itself.

Markram's was his second 50-plus score in four T20Is this year and his fourth in six innings, which is impressive on its own and more so against the backdrop of his last tournament. In 2024, Markram was severely out of form and the second-lowest run-scorer among South Africa's recognised batters with a top score of 46.

Given that his predecessor, Temba Bavuma, also had a wretched run at the 2022 tournament and was subsequently removed from the captaincy and dropped from the format, the criticism over Markram's underperformance was loud, demanding similar consequences. South Africa stuck with him and Shukri Conrad has promoted him to the top of the order. To return with the team's top score in the first match is not a bad outcome at all.

He did everything right early on - showed early aggression in the first over he faced and took three boundaries off it including two of his signature cover drives, and in the last over of the powerplay played the pick-up off the pads for his first six. South Africa were bossing it at 66 without loss after six overs, and Markram was outscoring Quinton de Kock. His fifty came off 28 balls at the stroke of halfway before he toe-ended local-born, Canada-qualified left-arm spinner Ansh Patel to long-on. Dilon Heylinger held on a running catch and Markram will be disappointed he didn't middle the ball as intended.

If there is a criticism of South Africa's performance, it could be that there were a few too many misjudgments. De Kock was done by flight from Canadian captain Dilpreet Bajwa and lost his off stump, Ryan Rickelton picked out long-on, and Dewald Brevis skied one high and was caught at mid-off. The silver lining from those mistakes was that it allowed the middle order much-needed time in the middle after they got very little in the West Indies series and Miller none at all. He returned from a groin injury in time for this tournament and seemed to have barely missed a beat.

Miller opened his boundary count with a smear in front of square off Bajwa and saved his bests for the last. A trio of sixes, all off hit-me balls, were dispatched over long-on, deep midwicket and deep backward square. While Miller's reputation precedes his returns, Stubbs was the one with a bigger point to prove. He had been dropped from South Africa's sides after a loss of form and confidence and was left out of the original squad initially. His eventual inclusion was only because of an injury to Donovan Ferreira and it was expected he would wait his turn behind Jason Smith, who was a first-choice pick.

But Stubbs got in ahead of Smith and his first shot showed why. It oozed class as he got forward and drove Ansh through the covers for four. As Canada searched for the yorker towards the end, Stubbs found the stands with the two biggest sixes of the innings. Stubbs has not been dismissed in seven of his last eight T20 matches, and last two T20Is, which underlines his role as the team's finisher, and Smith could have to wait a little longer to get into the XI.

These are problems South Africa will be happy to have as their toughest challenges await. No disrespect to Canada, but the reason Group D was labelled the group of death was because of the bottleneck created by the three Full Members: South Africa, Afghanistan and New Zealand, all of whom have been semi-finalists in the last two editions. South Africa will play both Afghanistan and New Zealand this week, which will determine all three teams' fate. To get themselves match-fit and firing across departments was crucial, and they managed to get that right in the attack too.

Ngidi, with a wicket off the first delivery and two in his second over, was the standout, and an important one because he offers something different to the other five seamers in the squad. Unlike them, Ngidi is not all pace, and his variations will be key especially at this venue, where South Africa will play three of their four league games and, if they get there, two of three Super Eight matches. Already, he has made a case to continue as their new-ball bowler of choice here and has shown an understanding of conditions. "There's a bit of bounce, and then it's presenting the seam well and obviously being able to bowl slower balls in the powerplay as well," he said at the post-match press conference. "The guys never know what's coming next, so just to keep them guessing but also be very accurate."

By the time Ngidi's first spell was over, Canada were 44 for 3 and well behind the game. At the end of the Powerplay, they were 50 for 4 which Ngidi described as a "massive bonus for us". When he returned for his final over, though Canada had not lost another wicket, they needed 104 runs off the last six overs, and that is probably as good an indicator of how skewed the contest was.

After a weekend of near-upsets as Netherlands, USA, Scotland and Nepal pushed the Full Members they were up against to the brink, Monday arrived like a splash of cold water to the face. Italy, in their first World Cup appearance, lost heavily to last-minute additions Scotland, Oman were monstered by a Zimbabwe side desperate to show their relevance and Canada were soundly beaten by South Africa. And just like that, something like normal service resumed.