NEW DELHI: After suffering heavy losses in their respective opening matches, both Canada and the United Arab Emirates will look to earn their first win in the T20 World Cup when they face each other in New Delhi on Friday.

Placed in Group ‘D’ alongside New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan, both the UAE and Canada face a massive task of qualifying for the Super Eight stage.

While Canada lost their opener to South Africa by 57 runs, the UAE were handed a 10-wicket trouncing by New Zealand.

The UAE, meanwhile, will once again rely on their big-hitting captain Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu to revive their World Cup campaign.

Canada’s lack of high-quality match exposure over the last four months was evident in their opener. The side was erratic against South Africa, taking some sharp catches but also spilling regulation chances.

However, there were some positives as well. They showed grit in their chase of 214, rebuilding their innings after losing early wickets. Left-arm wrist-spinner Ansh Patel removed Aiden Markram, while Navneet Dhaliwal’s half-century and middle order batter Harsh Thaker’s form was encouraging.

With the ball, UAE looked off colour against New Zealand. The onus will be on left-arm spinner Haider Ali to stifle batters with his accuracy, while seasoned pacer Junaid Siddique could prove effective with his yorkers.

The UAE will also draw confidence from their T20 World Cup qualifier clash against Canada in 2019, when they defeated the North American side by 14 runs.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026