Canada’s Yuvraj Samra hogged the limelight today, smashing a stunning century vs New Zealand in the 31st match of the T20 World Cup. With this superlative batting show, the trend of associate nations performing well at the mega event continued as Canada posted a competitive total of 173 runs after opting to bat first in the must-win clash. Yuvraj also became the youngest ever to score a century in the history of the T20 World Cup at the age of 19 years and 141 days.
He broke Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad’s record in this aspect, who had scored a ton against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup at the age of 22 years and 127 days. Samra, playing only in the 19th T20I game of his career, notched up his first century, off 58 balls and eventually amassed 110 runs off 65 deliveries at a brilliant strike rate of 169.23 with 11 fours and six sixes to his credit.
Youngest to score a hundred in T20 World Cup history
19y 141d – Yuvraj Samra (CAN) vs NZ, Chennai, 2026*
22y 127d – Ahmed Shehzad (PAK) vs BAN, Mirpur, 2014
23y 156d – Suresh Raina (IND) vs SA, Gros Islet, 2010
25y 83d – Alex Hales (ENG) vs SL, Chattogram, 2014
25y 327d – Glenn Phillips (NZ) vs SL, Sydney, 2022
Who is Yuvraj Samra? Know more about Canada opener
Yuvraj Samra, who is originally from Punjab, made his debut for Canada in March last year when he played an ODI against the Netherlands. A couple of weeks later, he also made his debut in the shortest format against Canada and hasn’t looked back since then. He has so far played eight ODIs and 19 T20Is, including the one against New Zealand in Chennai where he scored a century. He has so far scored 172 runs in ODIs at an average of 24.57 with a fifty to his name.
In T20Is, Samra has so far amassed 569 runs at a superb average of 37.93 and a strike rate of 161.18 with three fifties and a century to his name. He has also smacked 33 sixes so far in his career to go with 53 fours. Samra was not enjoying a great World Cup before today’s match as he had scored only 17 runs in two outings but batted superbly against New Zealand.
Yuvraj Samra’s special Yuvraj Singh connection
Yuvraj Samra also enjoys a special connection with India’s Yuvraj Singh. His father, Baljit Samra, named his son after Yuvraj and wanted him to bat like him as well. Moreover, Baljit also witnessed Yuvraj Singh’s record-breaking 12-ball fifty in 2007. Yuvraj Samra has also met the Indian legend twice.
“My dad was there, my dad told him [about the name]. He said, oh, that’s nice, he’s just laughing. I don’t remember when it was, it was when he played for Toronto Nationals [in 2019]. And then now I met him when Super 60 started, so last year, 2025.ย It’s just amazing how he hits the ball. It’s just really fun to watch. My dad always wants me to copy him. But I’m always saying that I want to be like my own version,” Yuvraj had said in an interview to ESPNCricinfo.
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