South Africa wins the toss, sends UAE into bat at cricket’s T20 World Cup

By Canadian Press on February 17, 2026.

NEW DELHI (AP) — South Africa won the toss Wednesday and sent United Arab Emirates in to bat in their last group-stage game at cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup.

Unbeaten South Africa has already qualified for the next stage with three consecutive wins, including a double-tiebreaker win over Afghanistan that required two Super Overs.

The UAE bounced back from a big opening loss to New Zealand to edge Canada and then lose a close game to 2024 semifinalist Afghanistan.

The South Africans rested David Miller, frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, who was voted player of the match in the thriller against Afghanistan.

For UAE, Druv Parashar and Muammad Farooq replaced Harshit Kaushik and Simranjeet Singh.

In matches later Wednesday, Pakistan will take on Namibia in Colombo with a spot in the Super 8s at stake, and co-host India will finish off the Group A program against Netherlands at Ahmedabad.

___

Lineups: South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka

UAE: Aryansh Sharma, Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah.

___

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

The Associated Press

15
-14