Excitement gripped T20 World Cup 2026 warm-ups as Nepal demolished Canada by six wickets, New Zealand held off USA by seven runs in a last-over thriller, and weather dashed Australia-Netherlands hopes.
In Chennai, Canada reached 161/6 after electing to bat. Shreyas Movva anchored with 38*, Navneet Dhaliwal opened with 41, and Kanwarpal Tathgur made 25. Nepal’s Sandip Lamichhane and Kushal Bhurtel starred with 2/?? each, applying brakes.
Nepal chased swiftly, Aasif Sheikh’s 58* (29b, 6×4, 3×6) dazzling alongside Sandeep Jora (44) and Gulshan Jha (31*). Victory in 18 overs left Canada’s Jaskaran Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, and Ajayveer Hundal with single wickets.
Rain forced abandonment of Australia vs Netherlands – zero overs bowled.
At DY Patil, New Zealand amassed 208/7. Tim Seifert’s explosive 66 (31b, 10×4, 2×6) before retiring out, plus Glenn Phillips (40) and Daryl Mitchell (32), challenged USA. Saurabh Netravalkar (2 wkts), Ali Khan, Mohammad Mohsin, Shubham Ranjane (1 each) fought back.
USA’s 201/8 fell agonizingly short: Saiteja Mukkamalla 50 (31b, 6×4), Milind Kumar 43, Shubham Ranjane 41. Matt Henry’s 5/32 (4 overs), Ish Sodhi’s 2, and Jacob Duffy’s 1 wickets clinched it for Kiwis. Warm-ups intensify preparations for the global showdown.