West Indies produced a stunning all-round show to decimate Zimbabwe in their first Super Eights clash against Zimbabwe at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell wreaked havoc with the bat in the first innings, powering West Indies to 254/6 – the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history. Sri Lanka hold the top spot, having scored 260 vs Ireland in the inaugural edition.
Hetmyer smacked 85 runs off 34 balls, which includes a 19-ball half-century. With that, he bettered his own record of the fastest half-century for West Indies in T20 World Cup history. Rovman Powell played the perfect role of the second fiddle, scoring 59 runs. He had a slow start to the match but Hetmyer helped him settle down quickly. The duo stitched an 85-run partnership, which helped West Indies script a quick comeback after losing two early wickets.
Towards the fag end, Sherfane Rutherford played a blistering cameo of 31 runs off 13 balls. Romario Shepherd added 21, helping West Indies post a mammoth total on the board. Meanwhile, none of Zimbabwe’s plans worked in the middle as West Indies batters dominated the proceedings. It could be a warning sign for both South Africa and India, which the Shai Hope-led side plays next.
What happened in the second innings?
Zimbabwe lost wickets at regular intervals in the second innings. They came out with a clear plan of playing an attacking brand of cricket but that’s not their natural side. The Chevrons have done tremendously well in low-scoring affairs but chasing 255 runs meant them going all guns blazing. However, they weren’t quite prepared for that.
The Sikandar Raza-led side lost three wickets in three overs and that sealed the fate of the match. There were plenty of expectations for the captain to change the tide but he could add only 27, while Dion Myers made 28. TAt the back end, Brad Evans gave his all, hitting 43 runs off 21 balls, but that was of course not enough. Notably, four of their players failed to open their tally tonight and that tells the kind of day Zimbabwe had.
They were eventually bundled for 147 runs as West Indies registered a massive win of 107 runs. They have now bettered the Net Run Rate and are ahead of South Africa on the points table.
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