Afghanistan vs Canada, 39th Match, Group D, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

Canada bow out of the competition without registering a single win. Back-to-back wins for Afghanistan but they had to beat either New Zealand or South Africa to progress to the next round. They were competitive against the Kiwis and suffered an agonizing defeat at the hands of the Proteas which needed two Super Overs to decide the winner. At least, they were able to give their coach - Jonathan Trott - a winning farewell. It's curtains down on the triple-headers of this T20 World Cup. There's just one more group stage match before the Super Eights. Tune in tomorrow for Australia vs Oman. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us.

Rashid Khan | Afghanistan captain: "We had some wonderful time with him (Trott) since he joined the team in the last four years, four-and-a-half years. I feel like he has done lots of things for the cricket of Afghanistan. And I feel where we are now, he played a main role to keep the team. And it's quite emotional to see him leaving us, but that's how the life is. You know, you can't stay there forever, but we wish him all the very best and hopefully somewhere around the corner in the upcoming events, we see him. (On their WC campaign) I feel we were well prepared for this competition. We were very close. We played unbelievable cricket throughout the tournament. It's not something like we have done something very bad games. I think that game against South Africa really, really put us on the back foot and that game really, really hurt everyone. We really prepared well for those two games, first two games we have to win one of the game and then see how the tournament goes. But I think that's something which you can't really think about a lot. We didn't lose the last two games. We did really well. We did some great things, but some positive things we take from this World Cup and we look forward to any time again we come to the ICC event, we'll be prepared. Well, a couple of areas we need to improve. With the batting as well, especially middle order, we are a little bit stuck, sometimes against the big teams, I feel like that is the area where we need to improve. Also in our bowling in the death overs, we need to work a lot. That only comes when you play bigger games again and again. That only comes if you play against the bigger teams, bilateral series, that's going to help us a lot, not only in the T20 World Cup, but ... we will still work very hard to improve in those two areas. We have great spinners, good batters to attack at the top of the order, but middle order to carry the innings, I think that's the area we need to improve. (Message to the fans) Well, thank you so much to everyone who came in numbers to support us in Chennai, Ahmedabad, in Delhi. They came and supported us, which gives us the feeling of being back home, you know, playing in front of our home crowd in Afghanistan. That's the kind of feeling we got. And massive thank you to each and everyone coming in numbers, not only in the ground, but you know, throughout wherever we have gone, we have got so much love and support. And thank you so much to everyone. Keep supporting us. We will try our best to keep the good, good games and keep entertaining you guys."

Dilpreet Bajwa | Canada captain: "We played franchise cricket together from the same team and he's (Azmatullah Omarzai) a very good friend of mine and Noor, we played T10 together. And all the players, they know each other because we did play franchise league and it's a good thing. We started well, the finishing, we have a problem with throughout the tournament. There we need to improve in the future. I think that went against us in the chase. They (Afghanistan) bowled well. Their spinners they have, it was challenging, we knew that. But we lost early wickets, so it was hard for us to chase 200 runs. I feel like it was a very good tournament for our players. Like we saw Yuvraj Samra, he showed the world that Canada have good talent. And Ansh Patel, we have, he played IPL as well, right? Harsh played well, Navneet, all of them played well. But the thing is, as a unit, we didn't do well. But I think in the future, we're going to learn more from this thing. It's a very good opportunity for our players to play a World Cup, representing themselves in the World Cup. So looking forward to do well in the future. Chennai is always a fan base. So they always want to come and support cricket. Thanks to them. They came to support us. So it was a good time with us and the players. They enjoyed it."

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

Biggest wins for Afghanistan in T20 World Cups (by runs)
130 vs Sco Sharjah 2021
125 vs Uganda Providence 2024
84 vs NZ Providence 2024
82 vs Can Chennai 2026

Ibrahim Zadran | Player of the Match: I’ve really enjoyed this. I didn’t play the kind of cricket I expected from myself in the first two innings, but I always had the confidence that I would come back stronger for Afghanistan in the last two games. Today was my day - I just wanted to back my skills and believe in myself. There’s always pressure and expectation, but I enjoy putting myself in those situations and embracing the challenge. I tried to stay positive, rotate the strike well, capitalise on the bad balls, and build a strong partnership with my batting partner, and I’m glad it worked out. I would also like to dedicate this Player of the Match award to our coach, Jonathan Trott. I’ve learned so much from him - he has encouraged and supported not just me, but the entire team. Under his guidance, we’ve achieved a lot in international cricket and ICC events. This is his last day with us, and we will truly miss him. I wish him all the very best for the future.

16:59 GMT, 22:29 IST: Convincing win for Afghanistan. Inserted to bat, they posted 200 on the board on the back of Ibrahim Zadran's unbeaten 95 along with notable contributions Sediqullah Atal and Gurbaz. In reply, Canada's openers came out all guns blazing. Yuvraj struck a couple of boundaries in the first over, Bajwa hit two cracking sixes in the next over. But the fun didn't last long. Mujeeb castled Bajwa, Navneet Dhaliwal departed for a duck in his farewell match and Nabi accounted for Yuvraj as Canada slipped to 33/3 inside the powerplay. Things went from bad to worse as Canada lost half their side with just 48 on the board. That's when Harsh Thaker and Saad Bin Zafar joined hands to stitch a fifty partnership. However, Afghanistan were always in firm control. Nabi returned to pick two more and finished with impressive figures of 4-0-7-4. Barring the first two overs, Canada couldn't put any sort of pressure on Afghanistan and they succumbed to a 82-run defeat.