Warm-up matches for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup delivered drama and dominance. Nepal outclassed Canada by six wickets in Chennai, New Zealand survived a scare to beat USA by seven runs in Navi Mumbai, and rain ruined the Australia-Netherlands fixture.
Canada set 162 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, with openers Navneet Dhaliwal (41) and Shreyas Movva (38*) leading the charge. Kanwarpal Tathgur added 25, but Nepal’s attack, spearheaded by Sandip Lamichhane and Kushal Bhurtel’s 2 wickets each, restricted them effectively.
Aasif Sheikh’s unbeaten 58 (29 balls, 6×4, 3×6) lit up Nepal’s chase, complemented by Sandeep Jora’s 44 and Gulshan Jha’s 31*. They romped home in 18 overs. Canada’s Jaskaran Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, and Ajayveer Hundal got minor breakthroughs.
No play was possible in the Australia-Netherlands game due to incessant rain – not even a toss.
New Zealand erupted for 208/7 at DY Patil, thanks to Tim Seifert’s 66 (31 balls, 10×4, 2×6, retired out), Glenn Phillips’ 40, and Daryl Mitchell’s 32. USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar shone with two wickets; Ali Khan, Mohammad Mohsin, and Shubham Ranjane took one apiece.
Chasing 209, USA managed 201/8 despite Saiteja Mukkamalla’s 50 (31 balls, 6×4), Milind Kumar’s 43, and Shubham Ranjane’s 41. New Zealand’s Matt Henry stole the show with 5/32 off 32 balls (wait, 4 overs?), backed by Ish Sodhi (2) and Jacob Duffy (1). These results underscore the high stakes ahead in the World Cup.