New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner did not turn up for the coin toss for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 match against Canada at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on February 17. Santner missed the must-win clash he faced stomach issues due to a 'dodgy burger' as revealed by stand-in skipper Daryl Mitchell.
“Mitch (Santner) had a bit of a dodgy burger last night and he's not feeling too great today, so hopefully he's good to go in 24 hours,” Daryl said at the coin toss.
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Daryl made his captaincy debut in Santner’s absence. Cole McConchie who replaced an injured Michael Bracewell in the squad made his unexpected T20 World Cup debut.
Apart from Santner, pacer Lockie Ferguson missed the match against Canada as well. Ferguson is back home on paternity leave. He was replaced by Kyle Jamieson in the lineup.
“Yeah, look, firstly excited for Lockie to have his first baby and he'll be back soon, but Kyle Jamieson comes in for him, so it's a like for like replacement, which is good. Cole (McConchie) comes in for Santner as well, so again it’s a very similar role. He’ll be excited to get the opportunity,” Daryl said after losing the toss.
New Zealand’s playing XI vs Canada
Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell(c), Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy.
When is New Zealand’s 1st Super 8 game?
If New Zealand beat Canada, they will progress to the Super 8 stage. Otherwise, they will have to depend on the results of other games.
As per pre-seeding New Zealand are scheduled to play their Super 8 game on February 21 at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The BlackCaps team management would hope that Santner fully recovers before the crucial clash.
Earlier, head coach Rob Walter had said that Ferguson is expected to rejoin the squad ahead of the Super 8 game.