Proteas Cruise To Comfortable Victory Over Canada

The Proteas got their pursuit of the T20 World Cup off to a winning start with a comfortable 57-run victory over a plucky Canadian side at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

The opening round of matches of the latest edition of the T20 World Cup has seen the associate sides, often considered minnows, give a good account of themselves as a few upsets were on the cards. 

There was to be no upset in Ahmedabad, though, as the 2024 finalists will attempt to make amends for their final defeat in the last edition and go all the way.

Lungi Ngidi starred with the ball with a superb 4/31 whilst captain Aiden Markram led with the bat, top-scoring with 59 off 32 balls.  

South Africa lost the toss and were asked to bat by Canadian captain Dilpreet Bajwa. 

Markram, together with the experienced Quinton de Kock, set the impetus at the top of the order with an opening stand of 70 in 7 overs.

De Kock – who was dropped on just 5 – added a further 20 runs to his score before misjudging a flighted delivery by Bajwa that saw his off-stump uprooted.

Ryan Rickelton joined his captain at the wicket, and the two added a further 56 runs, keeping up with the run-rate, before Markram fetched one wide outside off-stump, over the bowler’s head and was superbly caught on the long-on boundary, in a moment of brilliance by Dilon Heyliger.

Rickelton and in-form Dewald Brevis went in quick succession with just one run added between their dismissals, as they were wickets two and three for Ansh Patel to go with his scalp of Markram.

That was the last of the celebrations for Canada as David Miller and Tristan Stubbs ended the innings with their foot on the accelerator and put on an unbeaten partnership of 75 off 39 balls to take the Proteas to a hefty 213/4. 

SOUTH AFRICA – 213/4

Aiden Markram 59 (32 balls), David Miller 39*, Tristan Stubbs 34*

Ansh Patel 3/31 (4 overs)

Canada could not have gotten off to a worse start – as Lungi Ngidi struck with the first delivery of the innings – catching Bajwa in two minds – who got the slightest nick through to de Kock. 

In his next over, Ngidi had Yuvraj Samra caught behind for de Kock’s second catch – as he fended at one swinging away outside off-stump before Nicholas Kirton looked both rushed and cramped, succeeding in only lofting the ball to Kagiso Rabada at mid-on.

With Canada teetering at 26/3 and Ngidi tearing through the top order, an already difficult task became insurmountable for the Canadians.

Rabada then stepped up with the ball, beating Shreyas Movva with pace to send his off-stump careening as the bails lit up.

At 45/4, it seemed that the Proteas would end the Canadian effort early and swiftly, but with Harsh Thaker coming to the wicket and opener Navneet Dhaliwal surviving the fall of wickets around him, the two fought back.

As dew began settling, further wickets were delayed with the two adding a wonderful 69 runs off 53 balls before Thaker became Ngidi’s fourth and final scalp – skying one to Rabada at third man to end his innings with a contribution of 33 runs. 

Dhaliwal brought about his fifty off 39 balls in a defiant and courageous knock.

Marco Jansen then got in the act, finding himself on a hat-trick and doing damage to the lower order – claiming the wickets of Saad Bin Zafar and Jaskaran Singh in consecutive balls.

With 64 runs required going into the final over, the job was all but done, and Dhaliwal finally held out, heaving a Corbin Bosch off-cutter to long-on in the grateful hands of Stubbs. 

“We knew our attack brought pace, but for me, variations catch people out. So I try to do what I do best, change it up and keep guys guessing,” Ngidi said, as he claimed the Player of the Match award. 

South Africa has a quick turnaround time as they prepare to face Afghanistan on Wednesday at the same venue.