ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 31: Canada vs New Zealand | Preview and Predictions

Two teams on the other side of the pole, New Zealand looking to lock in a Super Eight spot by aiming to pick up their third win of the T20 World Cup 2026 while Canada are looking to stay alive after two back-to-back losses.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the 31st game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 between Canada and New Zealand

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 31: CAN vs NZ | 11:00, February 17, 2026 

New Zealand have had a strong start to their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, picking up wins against Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. Tim Seifert has been in hot form, scoring half centuries in both of the games while Finn Allen also joined the party, getting an explosive 84* to find some runs. While the batting seems more or less sorted for the Kiwis, the only  point of concern will be Rachin Ravindra’s form. The southpaw has been in poor form for a while and given his importance in the setup, the team will be expecting him to get some runs under his belt. 

Like their batting unit, the bowling has also performed like a well-oiled unit for the Kiwis with their seam attack of Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy and Lockie Ferguson providing early breakthroughs while the spin trio of Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Philips have kept things quiet in the middle overs. 

While New Zealand come into this game with two wins from as many games, Canada are coming into this encounter with two losses from two games. Canada’s batting has struggled in both games so far with the batting order unable to get going as a unit. Barring Navneet Dhaliwal’s 64 against South Africa and Harsh Thaker’s 50 against the USA, there has been no substantial contribution from the Canadian batting lineup, which is something they would look to fix. There’s not much from the bowling department either as Canada were taken apart by South Africa in their opening game and while they tried to stop USA, it wasn’t enough. The Canadian bowlers have taken 9 wickets across two games and Dilpreet Bajwa will hope that his bowlers have a better showing against New Zealand.

The MA Chidambaram strip has been a spinner’s paradise which means there will be turn on offer. Not only does New Zealand boast of a stronger squad, their strong spin attack also gives them an added advantage in a game the Kiwis are poised to win. 

Fantasy XI: Tim Seifert (wk+vc), Finn Allen, Navneet Dhaliwal, Rachin Ravindra (c), Harsh Thaker, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Saad Bin Zafar, Jacob Duffy, Ansh Patel, Kaleem Sana

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Winners Prediction: New Zealand