South Africa National Cricket Team vs Canada National Cricket Team Match: Canada won the toss and elected to field against South Africa in their Group D match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday, February 9, 2026. The decision gives last edition’s runners-up South Africa an early opportunity to set the tone with the bat. Canada, meanwhile, will look to draw inspiration from recent close contests involving associate nations and aim to make an early impact in the tournament.
The contest marks the first meeting between the two sides in a T20 international. Their only previous encounter came in the 2003 ODI World Cup, when South Africa defeated Canada by 118 runs.
Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa said dew was a key factor behind the decision. “Would like to bowl first. Excited to play against SA. Happy to play in this stadium. Feels like it's a good batting track. Because of dew we chose to bowl. Let's see how it goes. Had a pre-tour in SL. We didn’t get much cricket in Canada, but thanks to our board for arranging the pre-tour. Had very good practice matches against SL A. Have three fast bowlers. Saad bin Zafar - left arm spinner, Ansh Patel - chinaman. Already we rub shoulders with big players in GT20. But this is a World Cup, a big stage, and it’s a great opportunity for them to showcase their talent to the world,” Bajwa said.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram described the surface as a good one for batting and said his team was focused on making a strong start. "Looks a pretty good surface. Hopefully we can get off to a good start, get a really good score and take that momentum with the ball. Fantastic stadium to play at. Looking forward to getting on a good run in Ahmedabad. Big help for sure. People can say what they want about white-ball wickets, but they still vary from continent to continent. They’re not bad wickets — they’re still very good — but they can be different. We’ve been fortunate to play quite a bit of cricket in the subcontinent over the last six months, and now we’re really looking forward to starting the World Cup. Obviously, the long-term goal is to go one step further (than last time). But first, we have to earn the right to reach the Super 8s and the knockout games by having a really good group phase. That’s the focus right now," Markram said.
South Africa vs Canada Playing XIs
Canada (Playing XI): Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa(c), Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
