Sports News | T20 World Cup: New Zealand Beat Canada by 8 Wickets to Qualify for Super Eights

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 17 (ANI): Yuvraj Samra's sensational knock went in vain as New Zealand defeated Canada by eight wickets in match 31 of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

With this win, the Black Caps became the sixth team to qualify for the Super Eights, and Canada has been eliminated from the race after their third successive defeat in the tournament.

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Chasing a challenging target of 174 runs, New Zealand lost the wicket of opener batter Tim Seifert in the third over. He made just six runs off 10 balls. Finn Allen also followed him soon after, making 21 runs off just eight balls, including two fours and a six.

Then Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips made an unbeaten partnership of 146 runs off 72 balls and helped the Kiwis reach the target in just 15.1 overs with eight wickets to spare.

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Phillips was the aggressor with four fours and six sixes in his 76 not out off 36 balls. Ravindra also hit three sixes and four fours in his unbeaten knock of 59 runs off 39 balls.

Phillips was named Player of the Match for his match-winning performance. He also took three catches while fielding.

Earlier, the 19-year-old Samra made 110 runs off just 65 balls, including 11 fours and six sixes, which helped Canada set a big target of 174 runs for New Zealand.

Samra broke the record of Pakistan's Ahmed Shazad for being the youngest batter to score a ton in the T20 World Cup. Shahzad was 22 years old when he hit a century against Bangladesh in the 2014 edition.

His knock of 110 runs is also the highest individual score by an Associate nation player in the T20 World Cups. He surpassed Aaron James of the USA, who had made 94 not out agaisnt Canada in the last edition.

Opting to bat first against New Zealand, Canada started with Samra and captain Dilpreet Bajwa (36 off 39 balls), and the duo added 116 runs for the first wicket.

Dilon Heyliger and Navneet Dhaliwal also contributed in Canada's innings, which helped them reach 173 runs after 20 overs.

Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson and James Neesham shared one wicket each for the Kiwis. (ANI)

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