Chennai – Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in Tuesday’s men’s T20 World Cup group match.
New Zealand, one win away from confirming a Super Eight place, are missing two front-line players. Regular skipper Mitchell Santner is laid low after what stand-in leader Daryl Mitchell called a “dodgy burger”, while quick Lockie Ferguson has flown home for the birth of his first child.
Those withdrawals forced simple, like-for-like adjustments. Off-spinning all-rounder Cole McConchie replaces Santner, and the tall right-armer Kyle Jamieson steps in for Ferguson, a switch Mitchell described as “like for like”. The acting captain conceded the reshuffle is not perfect preparation but insisted the squad is used to adapting on the road.
Bajwa is hoping the daytime surface will reward his slower bowlers. “Later on, we might get some spin. So it’s good to bat first and give them a target,” he said. Canada have made one tweak, recalling off-spinner Shivam Sharma for left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana. Sharma topped the wicket charts at the June qualifying event yet has not played a T20 international since; a dry Chepauk pitch could suit his high-arm flight.
Form makes New Zealand favourites. They have two wins from three in Group D, trailing leaders South Africa only on net run rate. Canada have lost both fixtures to date and realistically need victory here to stay in the hunt.
Teams
Canada: Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Shivam Sharma, Ansh Patel.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell (capt), Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy.
