Last edition’s finalists start strong against Canada while Scotland, Zimbabwe get big wins earlier in the day.
The Proteas came out on top against Canada in Ahmedabad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign opener.
Earlier, Italy faced Scotland in an all European fixture in Kolkata, where Scotland beat the tournament debutants by 73 runs. Another strong showcase was on display in Colombo as Zimbabwe outclassed Oman in all departments, to cruise to an emphatic 8-wicket victory.
All-round South Africa off to a strong start
The Proteas were sent in to bat by Canada in Ahmedabad, and they had a brisk start as skipper Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock went about accumulating runs from the outset. The duo powered South Africa to 66/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Dilpreet Bajwa fought back with a brilliant delivery to dismiss de Kock (25 off 22) but Markram continued the flow of runs as he raced to a half-century in 28 balls. Markram and Rickelton then powered South Africa to 104/1 at the end of the 10th over.
Ansh Patel provided the breakthrough for Canada in the 12th over, removing Markram after a well-made 59 off 32 balls. He struck again soon after to dismiss Rickelton (33 off 21) and then claimed Dewald Brevis in the same over, dragging Canada back into the contest.
David Miller and Tristan Stubbs then stitched together an unbeaten 75-run partnership to power South Africa to a commanding total of 213. Miller finished with 39 off 23 balls, while Stubbs contributed 34 off 19.
Lungi Ngidi struck on the first ball of the chase dismissing the Canadian skipper Bajwa to give South Africa the perfect start.
In a repeat of the first dismissal, Lungi Ngidi found the edge of Yuvraj Samra’s bat, with de Kock safely completing the catch to hand South Africa their second breakthrough. Ngidi struck again in the over, dismissing Nicholas Kirton to put Canada in a tricky position at 26/3.
Shreyas Movva and Navneet Dhaliwal showed positive intent and fought back with the duo notching up a string of boundaries.
That was until Kagiso Rabada knicked an edge off Movva to leave Canada reeling at 45/4 at the stroke of the first powerplay.
Harsh Thaker joined Dhaliwal at the crease and the pair moved to a rebuild phase and struck some beautiful boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking. The pair brought up their 50+ partnership before Thaker was undone by Ngidi’s slower ball.
Saad Bin Zafar was the next batter in to support Dhaliwal. The latter took a single off Bosch to bring up a brilliant half-century in th 17th over.
Marco Jansen ran in to strike on the first two balls of the 18th over to get the wickets of Bin Zafar and Jaskarandeep Singh, and that was that for Canada.
The half-centurion continued to score a couple of boundaries against Rabada but Bosch’s slower ball did the trick at the start of the final over. Dhaliwal departed for an impressive knock of 64 runs from 49 balls.
Kaleem Sana smashed a four over extra cover on the final ball as South Africa sealed a 57-run win in their torunament opener.
Scotland beat Italy to get their first points on the board
Italy captain Wayne Madsen was forced to leave the field after injuring his shoulder early in his side’s clash against Scotland in Kolkata.
Madsen fell awkwardly when attempting a dive in the field, with the Italy skipper leaving the field for treatment.
It was later confirmed that Madsen would take no further part in the game, with Scotland’s openers making a fast start courtesy of George Munsey and Michael Jones.
The pair put on 126 for the opening wicket – a record for Scotland at any edition of the T20 World Cup – before Grant Stewart made Italy’s first breakthrough when he dismissed Munsey for 84.
Grant Stewart finally struck in the 14th over, dismissing George Munsey to claim Italy’s first-ever wicket in T20 World Cup history.
Scotland cross the 200-run mark for the first time in Men’s T20 World Cup history. A final-over blast from Michael Leask that saw him score 22 runs off just five deliveries has powered Scotland to their highest-ever total at a T20 World Cup.
Brandon McMullen was excellent as well to keep the momentum after the dismissals of Munsey and Jones as he scored 41* off just 18 deliveries.
In the chase, Italy were rocked early as George Munsey led the way in the field with two brilliant catches as Scotland reduced Italy to 54/3 at the end of the powerplay.
A 63-run stand between brothers Harry Manenti and Benjamin Manenti kept Italy in the hunt. Harry fell for 37 off 25 to the bowling of Michael Leask, before Benjamin went on to register Italy’s first half-century of the tournament with a well-made 52 off 31 balls.
However, once Benjamin was dismissed, Italy’s lower order collapsed, handing Scotland a commanding 73-run victory. Michael Leask starred with the ball, finishing with superb figures of 4/17 from his four overs as Scotland’s strike bowler.
Zimbabwe win big against Oman
Blessing Muzarabani’s heroics handed Zimbabwe a stunning start as they picked up four wickets inside the powerplay. Muzarabani struck early to remove Jatinder Singh, Aamir Kaleem and Karan Sonavale, putting Zimbabwe firmly in control. Richard Ngarava then joined the party by dismissing Hammad Mirza, leaving Oman reeling at 24/4 at the end of the powerplay.
A stunning delivery from Sikandar Raza went through the gates of Wasim Ali as Oman crawled their way to 43/5 at the end of the tenth over.
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Vinayak Shukla and Sufyan Mehmood provided much-needed stability to the Oman innings, stitching together a 42-run partnership. Richard Ngarava returned to the attack and made an immediate impact, dismissing Shukla for 28 off 21 balls and then striking again in the same over to remove Jiten Ramanandi, claiming his third wicket of the match.
Pacers led the charge for Zimbabwe, with Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava returning excellent figures of 3/16 and 3/17 respectively, while Brad Evans also chipped in with impressive figures of 3/18. Skipper Sikandar Raza contributed with a wicket as Oman were restricted to a total of 103.
Zimbabwe got off to a flying start in the chase thanks to Tadiwanashe Marumani, who smashed 21 off just 11 balls before Wasim Ali pulled off a stunner to dismiss the opener. Sufyan Mehmood struck again in the same over, removing Dion Myers for a duck.
Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor stitched together a match-winning 68-run partnership that all but sealed the game for Zimbabwe. Taylor scored 31 off 30 balls before retiring hurt, visibly hobbling between the wickets.
Skipper Sikandar Raza then joined Bennett and struck the winning runs as Zimbabwe cruised to victory. Bennett remained unbeaten on 48 off 36 balls, his composed knock laying the foundation for the chase.
