Canada’s Indian-origin batter Yuvraj Samra created history by becoming the youngest player to score a century at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, blasting a career-best 110 off 65 balls against New Zealand cricket team in a Group D match, at 19 years and 141 days. The youngster, who was named after Indian swashbuckler Yuvraj Singh by his cricket fan father Baljit Samra, was playing in only his 19th T20 International since making his debut in March last year.

Samra struck 11 fours and 6 sixes to power Canada to 173, setting a new mark as the youngest centurion in the tournament and recording the highest individual score by a batter from an Associate nation.He is also the third Canadian to register a half-century in this edition.The record for the youngest hundred in the T20 World Cup was previously held by Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad, who was 22-year-old when he touched the milestone in 2014.After his record-breaking century, Yuvraj Samra said the moment was something he had long imagined and worked towards.“Honestly, I manifested this moment ever since we qualified for the World Cup. Every single day, I dreamed about scoring a hundred on this stage. To do it here, in my first appearance, and as the youngest player in this World Cup – it’s truly a dream come true.” he said. On being compared to Yuvraj Singh, Samra said: “It feels incredible. There are so many emotions right now, I can’t really put them into words. Yuvraj Singh is someone I’ve looked up to since I was a kid, so to even be mentioned in the same breath is special. I just wish my dad was here today watching me from back home – this one’s for him.” he added.Highest individual scores for Associate teams in T20 World Cups:

Samra smashed six sixes and 11 fours in his 65-ball knock, taking full advantage of a depleted New Zealand attack minus Lockie Ferguson (personal leave) and Mitchell Santner (indisposed).He set the tone early, taking on pace spearhead Matt Henry in the opening over with back to back fours.He then shifted gears in the final over of the powerplay, hammering James Neesham for 18 runs.After two dot balls, he unleashed a sequence of 4, 4, 4, 6 — pulling behind square, muscling one over mid-wicket, drilling a straight drive and finishing with a stunning upper-cut over point — to race to 29 off 17 balls.Samra brought up his fifty off just 36 balls and found solid support from skipper Dilpreet Bajwa as the duo stitched together a 116-run opening stand — the highest first-wicket partnership by an Associate team against a Full Member in men’s T20 World Cups.Bajwa was clearly overshadowed and got out for 36 off 39 balls.Samra also had luck on his side, dropped on 91 when Henry failed to hold on at deep extra cover and again on 107 off Neesham.However, New Zealand found some relief in the final three overs, conceding just 23 runs and picking up two wickets to deny Canada a 180-plus total.

Junaid Siddique and Aryansh Sharma (Image credit: Agencies)

NEW DELHI: Powered by Junaid Siddique’s fifer and an 84-run partnership between Aryansh Sharma (74 not out) and Sohaib Khan (51), United Arab Emirates (UAE) opened their account in the ongoing T20 World Cup with a six-wicket victory over Canada on Friday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.The scoreboard read 66/4, and there was silence in one part of the dugout where the UAE players were seated. Harshit Kaushik was the latest batter to head back to the pavilion.

Opener Aryansh Sharma, who had made a solid start and already accumulated 44, stood tall at one end.What once looked like an easy chase of 151 suddenly felt like it was slipping out of their grip.Then came Sohaib Khan. All UAE needed for the much-needed oomph in the chase was someone to partner Aryansh. Sohaib provided that impetus. Facing Dilon Heyliger, he smashed 17 runs off the 17th over and added 13 runs off the 18th.The equation was simple: to win the game and pick up their first points on the board, they needed 26 off 12 balls.Watching his partner dominate the bowlers, Aryansh joined the party, as an 18-run over brought the equation closer to victory. A six off the first ball of the 19th over crushed Canadian dreams of opening their account in the tournament. Sohaib fell to Jaskarandeep Singh with the scores level, but it was nothing more than consolation.Earlier, UAE’s right-arm pace spearhead Junaid Siddique ripped through Canada’s batting with a probing spell of pace and bounce on a surface that offered just enough to keep batters honest. The Canadian innings, at no stage, found sustained tempo.When the drinks came on for the second time at the end of the 14th over, Canada had just reached 100 for four — a recovery of sorts after a harrowing start.Canada’s decision to bat first after winning the toss appeared questionable once they slumped to 39 for three in the powerplay. Timing the ball was difficult. Hitting boundaries was rare, and the first six overs bore evidence of that, with just four fours and no sixes coming off the Canadian willows.In fact, the entire innings produced only four sixes, three of them struck by Harsh Thaker.Thaker, 28, was the standout in a middle-order revival. First alongside Navneet Dhaliwal (34) and later with Shreyas Movva (21), Thaker dragged Canada out of danger and put them in a fighting position.Meanwhile, Dhaliwal’s dismissal was an unfortunate and interesting one. A direct hit at the keeper’s end caught him short, his bat stuck in the ground just outside the crease line and his right foot still airborne.The verdict went against him with the score on 96 for four.The final six overs, however, belonged to Siddique. The momentum of the comeback ebbed away as wickets fell in clusters.Thaker (50), Movva and Saad Bin Zafar (5) all succumbed to Siddique, who had already removed Yuvraj Samra (5) and Dilpreet Bajwa (11) earlier in the innings.Siddique’s spell of 5/35 culminated in the tournament’s second five-wicket haul of the 2026 T20 World Cup, as his craft of generating sharp pace and awkward bounce forced miscued strokes, with all his victims caught in the field.Brief score: Canada 150/7 in 20 overs (Harsh Thaker 50, Navneet Dhaliwal 34; Junaid Siddique 5/35, Muhammad Jawadullah 1/16)UAE 151/5 in 19.4 overs (Aryansh Sharma 74 not out, Sohaib Khan 51; Saad Bin Zafar 3/14)UAE won by five wickets