A sprightly half-century from captain Aiden Markram followed by handy contributions from multiple others in the top 6 and a disciplined bowling effort have driven South Africa to a commanding 57-run victory against Canada.

Markram got going in the Powerplay, but Quinton de Kock struggled for timing for most of his stay. In the 7th over, Canada skipper Dilpreet Bajwa sent him back, but Ryan Rickelton would keep the score moving along.

The Proteas head honcho reached his 50 from 28 deliveries, but couldn’t add much more when he holed out to long-on off Ansh Patel. The young left-arm wrist spinner would take another two wickets, as Rickelton went back soon after and the dangerous Dewald Brevis fell cheaply.

However, that was all the success for the Canadian bowlers. The returning David Miller and Tristan Stubbs both celebrated their comebacks with rapid 30’s to close out the innings and drive their team past the 200 threshold. Over 70 runs were added in the final 6 overs, and there was no respite for the inexperienced bowling unit.

The momentum was with SA, as Lungi Ngidi burst open the Canadian top-order with 3 wickets in his first two overs. Things went from bad to worse for the men in red, as Kagiso Rabada knocked over Shreyas Movva.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as Navneet Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker put on a brilliant 69-run stand to revive the innings. The asking rate was out of control, but both right-handers impressed with multiple boundaries all over the ground. It all came to an end when Ngidi returned and foxed Thaker with a slower delivery, but Dhaliwal reached a respectable half-century.

From then onwards, the innings lost steam, as the other pacers returned and made more inroads at the death. Canada had too steep a mountain to climb and couldn’t put up enough of a fight with the bat. But all things considered, this World Cup will be a rewarding experience for the Associate teams, many of whom are no pushovers.

The next match for the Proteas will be against Afghanistan on Wednesday, at the same venue in Ahmedabad.

SA 213/4 in 20 overs (Markram 59, Miller 39*, Stubbs 34* – Ansh Patel 4-0-31-3)

CAN 156/8 in 20 overs (Dhaliwal 64, Thaker 33 – Ngidi 4-0-31-4, Jansen 4-0-30-2)