South Africa begin T20 World Cup campaign with a commanding 57-run win over Canada

Feb 9 - Captain Aiden Markram led with a half-century as South Africa kicked off their Twenty20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 57-run win over Canada on Monday, aided by Lungi Ngidi's four-wicket haul in a Group D clash in Ahmedabad.

Canada's decision to bowl first backfired as last edition's finalists South Africa stormed to 213-4, despite Ansh Patel's three-wicket haul. In response, Canada could only get to 156-8, despite Navneet Dhaliwal's fighting knock of 64.

Markram (59 off 32 balls) started to fire early, putting together a 70-run partnership with Quinton de Kock within seven overs. The skipper completed his half-century in 28 balls, before falling to Patel (3-31).

An unbeaten 75-run partnership between David Miller (39) and Tristan Stubbs (34) got South Africa past the 200-run mark, as the two added 47 runs in the final three overs.

Player of the match Ngidi dismissed Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa for a golden duck and also sent back Yuvraj Samra (12) and Nicholas Kirton (4) early. Kagiso Rabada then dislodged Shreyas Movva's (9) off-stump, leaving Canada reeling at 45-4 in the sixth over.

But Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker (33) tried to keep Canada in the game with a 69-run partnership for the fifth wicket, until Ngidi got Thaker caught behind point.

By the time Marco Jansen (2-30) dismissed Saad Bin Zafar and Jaskaran Singh on back-to-back deliveries in the 18th over, it was already too late for Canada.

"We've seen at the start, anyone can beat anyone. You don't take anyone lightly," said Markram, with South Africa set to face last edition's semi-finalists Afghanistan in their next game on Wednesday.

ITALY'S DEBUT SPOILED BY DOMINANT SCOTLAND

Earlier in Group C, Italy's T20 World Cup debut was spoiled by Scotland, who started their campaign with a 73-run win two weeks after replacing Bangladesh at the tournament following the South Asian side's refusal to travel to co-hosts India.

Put into bat first, Scotland opener George Munsey made the most of Kolkata's batting-friendly track, smashing 84 in 54 balls with two sixes and 13 fours, helping his team post 207-4.

Italy captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his left shoulder while fielding and missed the rest of the game, adding to his team's woes as they lost three wickets in the first five overs.

Scottish spinner and allrounder Michael Leask took four wickets for 17 runs as Italy were bundled out for 134, despite Benjamin Manenti's (52 off 31 balls) attempt to fight back.

Zimbabwe, the other African team in action on Monday, chased down a target of 104 with 39 balls to spare, securing an eight-wicket win over Oman in Group B.

Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans took three wickets each to restrict Oman to 103, before opener Brian Bennett scored an unbeaten 48, with seven boundaries, to get Zimbabwe to 106-2, despite Brendan Taylor (31) being forced to retire with a limp. REUTERS