New Delhi: West Indies performed brilliantly in the T20 World Cup Super Eight match in Mumbai, defeating Zimbabwe by 107 runs and made a strong start to their campaign. With this win, West Indies have overtaken South Africa to top the Group 1 points table in the T20 World Cup Super 8. The Windies currently boast a better net run rate (NRR) of +5.350, ahead of second-placed South Africa, who have an NRR of +3.800.
With only the top two teams from the group advancing to the semi-finals, India, currently placed third with an NRR of -3.800, may find it difficult to enter the knock-out stage if the points are tied at the end of this ongoing stage. After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Zimbabwe were badly punished as the West Indies batsmen scored heavily at the Wankhede Stadium.Shimron Hetmyer was the star of the show, scoring a brilliant 85 off just 34 balls to help West Indies post a mammoth score of 254-6, the second highest ever score in T20 World Cup history. Hetmyer was dismissed early in his innings and Zimbabwe had to pay a heavy price for that mistake. He completed his half-century in just 19 balls and shared a quick century partnership with Rovman Powell, who also played a strong inning of 59 runs in 35 balls. After his dismissal, Sherfane Rutherford continued the scoring with an unbeaten 31, while Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder added quick runs at the end, taking the final two overs to 38.Chasing the mammoth target of 255 runs, Zimbabwe got off to a very poor start. They were reduced to 20-3 inside the first three overs and never recovered. Although Brad Evans fought hard, scoring 43 runs from 21 balls, the rest of the batting collapsed under the pressure. Zimbabwe team was out for 147 runs in 17.4 overs.Left-arm spinners Gudakesh Moti and Akeal Hosein dominated with the ball, taking four and three wickets respectively to seal an emphatic win. The match saw a huge difference between the two sides on the day, with West Indies sending a strong message heading into the Super Eights stage.
Leave a Reply