New Zealand reach Super Eight despite Samra hundred

Canada opener Yuvraj Samra smashed a scintillating hundred but New Zealand prevailed by eight wickets in a Group D contest between the sides to book their place in the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup while also eliminating Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Glenn Phillips (76) and Rachin Ravindra (59) smashed unbeaten half-centuries as New Zealand chased down a target of 174 with 4.5 overs to spare for their third win in four matches.

Group leaders South Africa had already advanced to the Super Eights after a hat-trick of wins. “Rachin and I were just trying to stick to our processes and take it one ball at a time,” said Phillips, who smashed six sixes in his 36-ball blitz and was the player of the match.

“They picked up a couple of early wickets, which put us on the back foot slightly. From there, it was about staying calm and building a partnership. Thankfully, it ended up the way it did.”

Earlier, Samra, named after India stalwart Yuvraj Singh, smashed 110 off 65 balls to power Canada to a commanding 173-4 following their decision to bat first.

The 19-year-old lit up the MA Chidambaram Stadium with his batting pyrotechnics, smacking 11 fours and six sixes in what is the highest individual score in the ongoing tournament.

Samra combined in a 116-run opening partnership with his captain Dilpreet Bajwa (36) and the duo denied New Zealand any breakthrough in the first 13 overs.

Samra raced to a 36-ball fifty and never took his foot off the pedal even after losing Bajwa.

Navneet Dhaliwal and Nicholas Kirton fell in quick succession but Samra looked unfazed by the loss of partners and untroubled by the New Zealand attack.

The left-hander brought up his 58-ball hundred with a four off Kyle Jamieson before removing his helmet and soaking in the applause from the stands.

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Samra’s fine knock came to an end in the final over of the innings when Phillips took his third catch of the match.

New Zealand were rattled early in their chase, losing both their openers - Tim Seifert and Finn Allen - but Phillips and Ravindra scored at a two-run-a-ball rate in their unbroken partnership of 146 to secure what turned out to be an easy win in the end.

Daryl Mitchell led New Zealand in the match after regular skipper Mitchell Santner was sidelined with illness.