Canada started their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They were not up to the mark at the start of the game, with the Proteas smashing them right, left, and centre inside the powerplay for the score of 66 runs without any damage before the Canadian side broke the first wicket partnership and lifted themselves with some great fielding. 

The biggest wicket of the evening for Canada came against the opposition captain, Aiden Markram. The right-handed batter, who has now scored the second-most 50+ scores for the Proteas in T20 World Cups, smashed Ansh Patel for a fine boundary to start the 12th over of the innings.

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On the very next ball of the over, Markram went on his backfoot and clubbed the short ball down the ground. The ball, after pitching, went away from the arc of the batter and didn’t get the expected elevation, which saw the fielder at the boundary rope being interested. Dilon Heyliger jumped at the right time and perfectly completed the catch.

Dilon Heyliger's catch from SA vs CAN T20 WC 2026 goes viral 

That brought the end of Markram’s knock of 59 runs in 32 balls at a strike rate of 184.38 with the help of 10 boundaries and one six. On his next over, Ansh picked up two more wickets in the form of Ryan Rickelton and Dewald Brevis to put the breaks on the Proteas’ batting.

Watch the video here: 

A stunner from Dilon Heyliger! 🤯

When Canada needed something special to send back Aiden Markram, he delivered in style. 💪

ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | #SAvCAN | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/3LPOCPHkGW pic.twitter.com/1fzXsPnOsL

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 9, 2026

Rickelton went for a big shot and was caught at the long-on region, where Harsh Thakur grabbed a safe catch at the edge of the boundary rope. Three balls later, the left-arm wrist spinner picked up the wicket of Brevis, who was foxed by the variation. Ansh Patel finished with figures of 3/31 in his four overs.

Apart from these, Quinton de Kock struggled to get going at the opening spot for his 25 runs in 22 balls at a strike rate of 113.64 with the help of two boundaries. The ground was quite empty where the players had to get some energy for the fixture.

Brief Scores: SA 213/4 (Aiden Markram 59, David Miller 39*, Ans Patel 3/31) vs Canada.