NZ Vs CAN: Kiwis won by 8 wickets and made place in Super-8, Rachin-Phillips overpowered Canada’s centurion Yuvraj

NZ vs CAN Highlights: In the 31st match of Group-D of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, New Zealand defeated Canada by 8 wickets and confirmed its place in the Super-8. MA. In this match played at Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk), even though Canada’s Yuvraj Samra created history by scoring a century, but while chasing the target, the strong half-centuries of Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips gave the Kiwi team a big victory by 8 wickets.

Canada’s innings: Yuvraj Samra’s memorable century

Batting first, Canada posted a competitive score of 173/4 in 20 overs. Opener Yuvraj Samra played an explosive inning of 110 runs in 65 balls, which included 11 fours and 6 sixes. Captain Dilpreet Bajwa supported him well by adding 36 runs. Although the middle order could not contribute as expected, Yuvraj’s innings took Canada to a strong score. The fielding from New Zealand was excellent—many catch outs came through fielding, which kept the run rate under control.

New Zealand’s answer: Rachin–Phillips ‘hit’ show

Chasing the target of 174 runs, New Zealand may have had a cautious start, but Finn Allen set the tone by scoring 21 runs in 8 balls. After this, Rachin Ravindra, who was at the crease, showed an excellent balance of restraint and aggression. Rachin scored 59 runs in 39 balls, which included 4 fours and 3 sixes.

From the other end, Glenn Phillips completely turned the match in New Zealand’s favor. Phillips scored an unbeaten 76 runs in just 36 balls—this innings included 4 fours and 6 sixes. The partnership between the two did not give any chance to the Canadian bowling. Kiwi team won the match by scoring 176/2 in 15.1 overs.

turning point of the match

Yuvraj Samra’s century was an inspiration for Canada, but New Zealand’s composed batting in the powerplay and middle overs proved decisive. Phillips’ clean hitting and Rachin’s consistency made the run-chase extremely easy. Glenn Phillips was also praised with the Player of the Match award for his explosive batting.

On the bowling front, both the teams had to fight hard and the dominance of the batsmen was clearly visible. However, New Zealand’s fast bowlers performed relatively well, with Jacob Duffy being particularly impressive. Duffy took an important wicket while giving runs at an economy of 6.7 in his four overs spell. Overall, out of the four wickets taken by New Zealand, three went to the fast bowlers and one to the spinner, which clearly showed the impact of the pace attack in the bowling.

Impact on Group-D

With this win, New Zealand qualified for Super-8 from Group-D. Whereas South Africa had qualified the previous day itself. This means that the remaining teams, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada are out of the tournament.

NZ vs CAN: Final of both teams XI

New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell (c), Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy

Canada Playing XI: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (captain), Navneet Dhaliwal, Harsh Thakar, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Mova (wicket-keeper), Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Dilon Heiligar, Jaskaran Singh, Ansh Patel.