Chennai, Feb 17 (IANS) New Zealand secured a dominant eight-wicket victory over Canada at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, booking their place in the Super 8s of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Chasing 174, the Black Caps recovered from an early 30/2 slump to complete the target in just 15.1 overs, with Glenn Phillips smashing 76 off 36 balls* and Rachin Ravindra contributing 59* in a match-winning partnership. Phillips’ 22-ball fifty, New Zealand’s fastest in T20 World Cups, featured towering sixes and a switch-hit maximum, while Ravindra balanced aggression with composure to anchor the innings.
Earlier, Canada posted 173/4, led by a sensational 110 from 19-year-old Yuvraj Samra, the first T20 World Cup century by a batter from an Associate nation.
Captain Dilpreet Bajwa added 36, and the pair shared a 116-run opening stand, a record for an Associate team against a full-member nation. Despite Canada’s fighting total, inconsistent bowling and dropped chances allowed New Zealand to chase down the target comfortably.
Here’s a look at all the key stats from the New Zealand vs Canada match
174 – NZ successfully chased 174 runs against Canada. This marked only the third time in T20 World Cup history that NZ successfully chased a target of 170 or more. Previously, they chased 174 against UAE in Chennai and 183 against Afghanistan, also in Chennai, during this World Cup.
10 – In this match, NZ batters hit 10 sixes, the highest they have achieved in a T20 World Cup game.
1 – Canada opener Yuvraj Samra (110) made history as the first Associate team batter to score a century in the T20 World Cup. Prior to Yuvraj, Aaron Jones of the USA scored an unbeaten 94 against Canada in Grand Prairie during the 2024 World Cup.
6 – During his innings of 110 runs, Canada opener Yuvraj Samra hit 10 towering sixes, the joint most by an associate team batter against a full-member side in a T20 World Cup innings. This achievement is tied with Brandon McMullen of Australia in 2024 and Ben Manenti against England in the current World Cup.
19 Years, 141 days – Yuvraj Samra, Canada’s opener, is the youngest player to score a century in the T20WC. Prior to him, Ahmed Shehzad from Pakistan held the record, scoring a hundred against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014 at the age of 22 years and 127 days.
Samra also set the record as the youngest batter to score a fifty in the T20WC. He surpassed Junaid Siddique of Bangladesh, who scored a fifty against Pakistan in Cape Town in 2007 at 19 years and 325 days.
116 – Dilpreet Bajwa and Yuvraj Samra scored 116 runs for the first wicket. In the T20WC, this was the fourth time an Associate team’s batters had added 100 or more runs for the opening wicket.
–IANS
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