NZ vs CAN: Kiwis are being led by Daryl Mitchell, while Lockie Ferguson has gone home for the birth of his child
New Zealand and Canada will take on each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Both teams will look to put their best foot forward with bat, ball and in the field to increase their chances of winning in an important stage of the tournament with a lot at stake.
If we talk about the form of New Zealand and Canada coming into this game the former lost its last match against South Africa by a big margin and would be itching to get back to winnings as a loss in this match will make things a bit difficult for them as far as qualification in the Super Stage of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup is concerned.
Canada, on the other hand, is in search of their first win, having lost the first two matches against South Africa and the UAE, and would aim to come up with a strong performance against New Zealand.
NZ vs CAN: Captain’s Corner
Dilpreet Bajwa, the captain of Canada, said that they will be batting first after winning the toss, as the wicket looks good for batting and might assist the spinners in the second half of the game, which is why they would like to put runs on the board.
Daryl Mitchell, who is leading New Zealand in this particular match, on being asked the reason for that, said that Santner is unwell and should recover in 24 hours. When asked about his thoughts on bowling first, Mitchell said that a number of New Zealand players have the experience of playing in Chennai and know the conditions well and that they will assess the conditions quickly and adapt as the game unfolds.
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NZ vs CAN: How do the Teams Look
New Zealand: 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: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Navneet Dhaliwal, Harsh Thaker, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Dilon Heyliger, Jaskaran Singh, Ansh Patel
NZ vs CAN: How will the Pitch Behave
The Pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the NZ vs CAN game looks to be a good one for batting, with fewer cracks and a nice covering of grass, meaning that the ball should come nicely on the bat and the batters should be able to hit on the up without worrying about the unevenness that was the case a few years ago at this venue. Canada, who are batting first, should look to score at least 180-190 runs to create pressure on the opposition.
Also Read: SL vs AUS: Sri Lanka Qualifies For Super 8 In T20 World Cup 2026
