T20 World Cup 2026: Aasif Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane shine as Nepal beat Canada by six wickets

T20 World Cup 2026: Aasif Sheikh’s explosive 29-ball 58 and Sandeep Lamichhane’s 2 wickets powered Nepal to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Canada in a T20 World Cup warm-up match in Chennai. This marked Nepal’s second consecutive win in the T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up match, while Canada suffered their second defeat after losing to Italy earlier in the series.

Navneet Dhaliwal and Kanwarpal Tathgur stitched a 63-run stand

Coming in to bat first, Canada got off to a shaky start as opener Yuvraj Samra was dismissed in the fourth over for a sluggish 7 off 15 balls. Navneet Dhaliwal and Kanwarpal Tathgur stitched a 63-run partnership for the second wicket. However, once Tathgur fell to Kushal Bhurtel, Canada lost momentum, collapsing under pressure and losing four wickets for just 24 runs in 20 balls.

Bhurtel then removed Nicholas Kirton, and Lamichhane in quick succession, removing Dhaliwal for 41 and cleaning up Harsh Thakker. In the final overs, Shreyas Movva and Jaskaran Singh tried to accelerate with a cameo knock of 38 off 19 balls and 21 off 11 respectively, guiding Canada to reach a competitive total of 161 for 6 with 56 runs coming in the last four overs.

Nepal faced early setback as they lost Kushal Bhurtel

Nepal faced early setback as they lost Kushal Bhurtel. However, Aasif Sheikh and Sundeep Jora steadied the innings with a brilliant 84-run partnership for the second wicket off just 52 balls.

Aasif was retired out after a 29-ball 58, displaying his intent with aggressive strokeplay. Jora was dismissed soon after, but Gulshan Jha held his nerve, scoring an unbeaten 31 to guide Nepal to a six-wicket win with two overs to spare.

Nepal will face England in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, aiming to carry the positive momentum from their warm-up victories. Canada, on the other hand, will take on South Africa on Monday and will look to regroup after back-to-back losses.