Aiden Markram equaled the record of fastest half-century in this World CupImage Credit source: Surjeet Yadav-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

South Africa, trying to win the title for the first time, continued its explosive style in the T20 World Cup 2026 and registered a big victory. In the Group D match played in Ahmedabad, South Africa under the captaincy of Aiden Markram defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in a completely one-sided manner. In this match, South Africa achieved the target of 176 runs set by New Zealand in just 17.1 overs.

Amidst the excitement of the India-Pakistan match, more than 56 thousand spectators attended the match played at Narendra Modi Stadium a day earlier, which was the highest in any match of this World Cup. The South African captain and his team did not disappoint these fans. However, New Zealand could not perform to its full potential and this was seen in its batting before bowling.

For New Zealand, opener Finn Allen made an explosive start but from the other side Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra could not provide much support. Due to this, only 4 wickets fell for only 64 runs. Out of these, only Marco Jansson got three wickets, on whom a lot of runs were scored but he also kept on achieving success. But after this Mark Chapman and Darryl Mitchell took over the innings. Due to the fast batting of both, at one time New Zealand seemed to be moving towards 200 runs. But once again Yanson applied the brakes by dismissing Chapman and ultimately the entire team could reach only 175 runs in 20 overs.

For South Africa, captain Markram attacked from the very first over and attacked every bowler of New Zealand. The situation was such that South Africa was beyond 50 runs in the third over itself. Along with this, Quinton de Kock also hit some amazing shots. But the star of this innings was Markram, who completed his half-century in 19 balls. This was the fastest half-century by South Africa in T20 World Cup history and jointly the fastest half-century in the current World Cup (with Dasun Shanka).

Along with Markram, Ryan Richelton and Dewald Brewis also kept scoring boundaries one by one.

(News is being updated)