T20 World Cup 2026, Warm-ups Day 1: India A, Afghanistan post comfortable wins; Italy pips Canada

Afghanistan eased to a comfortable 61-run win over Scotland on the opening day of the ICC T20 World Cup warm-up fixtures at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru.

The Afghans posted a competitive 184 for six in 20 overs, with middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli top-scoring with a brisk 46-ball 84, which included seven fours and five sixes. Rasooli also helped his team recover from a stuttering start with a 82-run partnership for the third wicket with opener Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 36 off 32 deliveries.

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Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi then put the finishing touches on Afghanistan’s innings with a blistering 16-ball 34.

Left-arm spinner Mark Watt was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland with figures of 2/32 in four overs, while left-arm pacer Brad Currie bowled an economical spell, finishing with 1/19 in four overs.

In reply, Scotland was bowled out for 123 in 19.3 overs, with Afghanistan’s seamers and spinners sharing the spoils. The spin trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/27), captain Rashid Khan (1/6) and Nabi (2/9) picked four wickets between them, while all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai (3/14), right-arm pacer Ziaur Rahman (2/20) and Gulbadin Naib (1/20) inflicted the rest of the damage on the Scottish side.

Opener Michael Jones (21) and wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Cross (21) were the top scorers for Scotland.

At the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Italy beat Canada by 10 runs ahead of its maiden T20 World Cup campaign.

Despite posting a modest 156 for four 20 overs, Italy produced a disciplined bowling effort to ensure Canada fell short in the run chase. Five of the six bowlers Italy employed picked a wicket each, with Ali Hasan and Ben Manenti, who both conceded 22 runs in four overs each, being the most economical of the lot.

Canada’s 158-run chase started brightly, with Yuvraj Samra and captain Dilpreet Bajwa putting on a 55-run opening partnership. However, Canada kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with left-hand batter Nicholas Kirton (33) offering the only form of resistance in the middle-order.

Earlier, after being asked to bat, Italy’s batters put together a collective effort, as all six of its batters reached double digits. JJ Smuts was the highest scorer with a 37-ball 49, while Harry Manenti struck a handy 24-ball unbeaten 33 to help Italy post a match-winning total.

At the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India A’s 238 for three was too steep for USA, which fought hard to reply with 200 in 19.4 overs. N. Jagadeesan struck a brilliant 55-ball 104, while captain Ayush Badoni smashed an unbeaten 26-ball 60. READ THE FULL REPORT

Published on Feb 02, 2026