CHENNAI: Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya’s half-centuries and disciplined bowling led India to a stunning 72-run win over Zimbabwe in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight.
The win marked India’s first win at the Super Eights stage and kept them in contention to qualify for the semi-finals.
Also, the result of the crucial Group 1 match also marked the exit of Zimbabwe, which qualified South Africa for the knockouts.
As a result, India’s remaining Super Eight game against West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday has now become a virtual quarter-final as both teams have picked up two points from as many games.
Chasing a tough target of 257, Chevron’s batting unit could only manage 184/6 in their 20 overs despite Brian Bennett’s unbeaten half-century.
The right-handed opener struggled for Zimbabwe against the home side, scoring an unbeaten 97 off 59 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes.
He shared important partnerships with fellow opener Tadiwanashe Marumani and captain Sikandar Raza, who scored 20 and 31 runs respectively, as Zimbabwe’s other notable run-getters.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was India’s best bowler with 3 wickets for 24 runs in his four overs, while Varun Chakraborty, Shivam Dubey and Axar Patel took one wicket each.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza’s decision to field first backfired as his team’s bowling unit posted 256/4 in their 20 overs.
The home side got off to a good start to their innings as their new opening pair of Sanju Samson and Sharma added 48 runs at a blistering pace until Blessing Musharrafani dismissed the opener in the fourth over.
Playing his second match of the tournament, Samson scored 24 runs off 15 balls with 2 sixes and a four.
Following his dismissal, he paired Sharma with top-order batsman Ishan Kishan in the middle and the duo put on a 72-run partnership to further strengthen India’s command.
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza finally broke the threatening partnership by dismissing Kishan in the 11th over after scoring 38 off 24 balls with four fours and a six.
Sharma then put on 30 runs with skipper Suryakumar Yadav until he fell to Dinodenda Maposa in the 13th over.
The left-arm opener, who recorded duck outs in his first three T20 World Cup 2026 matches, top-scored for India with a 30-ball 55, four sixes and several fours.
Yadav followed it up after 11 balls and bounced back after a cameo of 33 runs that came in just 13 balls and featured five fours, including three sixes.
Tilak Verma and Hardik Pandya were equally dominant with the bat for India as they put on an unbeaten 84 for the fifth wicket.
Pandya scored an unbeaten 50 off 23 balls with 4 sixes and 2 fours.
Verma, on the other hand, scored an unbeaten 44 off 16 balls with 4 sixes and 3 fours.
On the Zimbabwean side, Richard Nagarava, Maposa, Musarabani and Captain Raza can take one wicket each.