🏏 ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, 31st match NZ vs Canada 17th Feb 🏏

🏏New Zealand vs Canada, 31st Match, Group D, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026🏏

At the end of that game between New Zealand and South Africa, one team was always going to have to wait longer to officially confirm their progression in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Both New Zealand and South Africa saw off Afghanistan, the team that could have potentially derailed their campaign. With the UAE and Canada being the other two outfits in this group, it was just a matter of time. And given the two top seeds in the group were going to face the two associates in their final league fixture, that cushion was always present. Afghanistan defeating UAE on expected lines has only made the equation simpler with South Africa's spot in the next round now guaranteed.

While there are no guarantees in sport, this should still be a mere formality for New Zealand. They have shown good form in the tournament so far despite the blip against South Africa and they will now be returning to familiar territory for this clash against Canada. Some of the players in that squad have played multiple games here in Chennai in the past. Even in the two games they played here in this edition, New Zealand were quite ruthless. 183 was chased down quite comfortably against Afghanistan and the two openers - Tim Seifert and Finn Allen - pulled off a demolition job over the UAE. A repeat is very much on the cards on Tuesday.

Canada haven't exactly caved in so far in the tournament. They managed to recover from 45/4 against South Africa to eventually post more than 150 despite the loss and also put themselves in a very good position to beat UAE at one stage before going down in the final over of the fixture. If they are to challenge New Zealand, their batters will have to fare a lot better than what they have done so far.

When: New Zealand vs Canada, February 17, 2026 at 11 AM IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

What to expect: Another pitch that's good to bat on. We have seen good surfaces so far at Chepauk in this tournament. New Zealand have already played a 11 AM game here just a few days ago to kickstart their campaign. Now that we are in mid-February, the temperatures are slowly on the rise.

Team News

New Zealand

New Zealand will see no reason to make changes to their playing XI despite the loss in the last game. But Ferguson's forced absence should bring Kyle Jamieson into the mix.

ProbableXI - Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy

Canada

Canada didn't make any changes to their XI the last game. It will be interesting to see if they retain the team or hand opportunities to new faces.

Probable XI - Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (w), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel

What they said:

"The injury was a bit of a blessing in disguise at the end of the day. I'd been playing cricket for a couple of years on the bounce. So fatigue obviously does become a big factor with the nature of the calendar that we have these days. So for me to be able to have a little bit of stuff outside of cricket, go get my pilot's license, to be able to work on my strength, and also then to be able to try and understand that my body is not the same as it was when I was 23." - Glenn Phillipson the time he spent away from the game while nursing an injury

"Definitely I'm happy to come back to Chennai and in one week I can see the difference with the weather also. Last week when we were here it was a little bit cooler but now it's getting hot and just we need to cope up with that and just play the game." - Shreyas Movva on Canada returning to Chennai for their final two fixtures

In the spotlight: Kyle Jamieson and Saad Bin Zafar

Kyle Jamieson doesn't quite have Ferguson's express pace, but can bang it away on a hard length and stifle the opposition batters. He also has some slower variations in his repertoire and his high-arm release could pose a big threat, especially to batters who are facing him for the first time.

Once known as "Vettori" in Canada's club cricket circuit, Saad Bin Zafar will run into the team that was once captained by one of his heroes. The Canada left-arm spinner often attacks the stumps and keeps it tight, as his economy rate of 6.02 across 67 T20Is suggests. At 39, Saad knows he won't be playing the game for long and will be eager to cause a few upsets on the big stage.

Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar during a training session•ICC/Getty Images

Pitch and conditions: Another day game at Chepauk

This will be the third day game at Chepauk in this T20 World Cup, so dew will be a non-factor once again. Considering the 11am start, there might be some morning moisture and bounce, as was the case during New Zealand-Afghanistan, which had also started at 11am. However, there hasn't been a whole lot of turn on offer at Chepauk.

Stats and trivia

• Mark Chapman played a T20 against Canada back in 2013, when he was representing Hong Kong.
• Since the start of 2025, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert have hit 116 and 96 sixes, respectively, in T20 cricket. Dewald Brevis tops the list with 132 sixes during this period.
• Yuvraj Samra has a strike rate of 159.37, the highest among Canada batters for a minimum of 250 balls faced in T20Is.

Quotes

"South Africa were very good in all facets of the game the other day. And on our day as well, we've taken South Africa, well, in different formats as well."

Glenn Phillips isn't perturbed by the defeat against South Africa

"It was not easy for the team to come up after that huge loss. And coming back from that, I think we need to regroup as a team."

Shreyas Movva on how Canada are coping with their defeat against UAE

Big picture: NZ meet Canada for the first time in T20Is

A win against Canada in their first T20I against them on Tuesday will firm up New Zealand's spot in the Super Eight. This result will also knock out Canada; South Africa have already qualified for the next round from Group D with three wins in as many games.

New Zealand have faced Canada just three times in international cricket so far - each time in ODI World Cups. Their most recent meeting coming in the 2011 edition in Mumbai. They have won all three games and are poised to make it 4-0 against Canada in World Cups, despite the absence of Lockie Ferguson. The fast bowler has returned home for the birth of his first child and is expected to link up with the side ahead of the Super Eight. In Ferguson's absence, Kyle Jamieson, who wasn't even in the main squad in the first place, is set to make his T20 World Cup bow.

As for Canada, they had their moments against South Africa and UAE but they have failed to convert those into wins. On Friday in Delhi, they had UAE at 66 for 4 in the 13th over in a chase of 151, but they left the door ajar for Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan to sneak home. Canada can't afford such slip-ups against New Zealand - and then Afghanistan - if they are to notch up a win in this World Cup.

Thank you Soni, for the thread and for tagging.

Best wishes to both teams.

A win against Canada in their first T20I against them on Tuesday will firm up New Zealand's spot in the Super Eight. This result will also knock out Canada; South Africa have already qualified for the next round from Group D with three wins in as many games.

New Zealand have faced Canada just three times in international cricket so far - each time in ODI World Cups. Their most recent meeting coming in the 2011 edition in Mumbai. They have won all three games and are poised to make it 4-0 against Canada in World Cups, despite the absence of Lockie Ferguson. The fast bowler has returned home for the birth of his first child and is expected to link up with the side ahead of the Super Eight. In Ferguson's absence, Kyle Jamieson, who wasn't even in the main squad in the first place, is set to make his T20 World Cup bow.