South Africa captain Aiden Markram, second right, shakes hands with Canada’s Kalee Sana (PTI) Aiden Markram led South Africa with a scintillating half-century as the Proteas cruised past Canada by 57 runs in their World Cup Group D T20 opener on Monday. Markram batted first, a quick 59 off 32 balls, with 10 fours and a six, setting the tone for an impressive total. Quinton de Kock (25), Ryan Rickelton (33), Tristan Stubbs (34) and David Miller (39) also contributed significantly as South Africa posted 213 for 4 in their 20 overs.
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Chasing 214, Canada never really got going and ended up at 156 for 8. Navneet Dhaliwal stood out with a brave 64 while Harsh Thaker added 33, but the asking rate proved too steep for the visitors. Canada’s innings got off to a disastrous start when skipper Dilpreet Bajwa bowled the very first ball from Lungi Ngidi (4/31) to de Kock. Dhaliwal and Yuvraj Samra steadied the ship briefly with 17 runs in two overs before Ngidi struck twice in the third over to dismiss Samra and Nicholas Kirton as Canada slumped to 26 for 3. The 69-run partnership between Dhaliwal and Thaker offered some resistance but Marco Jansen (2/30) struck in the 18th over to seal an emphatic victory. South Africa’s innings was explosive from the start. Markram struck Dillon Heyliger in the second over while de Kock followed with two fours off Saad Bin Zafar as the pair put on 70 runs for the opening wicket in just 6.5 overs. De Kock was eventually cleaned up by Bajwa and Markram reached his fifty in the 10th over before falling to Ansh Patel at long-on. Rickelton followed soon after, giving Patel another wicket and Dewald Brevis added to Canada’s woes, caught by Kirton. In the final overs, Miller and Stubbs stepped up brilliantly to put together an unbeaten partnership of 75 runs from just 37 balls, with Miller clearing the ropes at will. For Canada, Ansh Patel was the outstanding bowler with 3/31.
