Chennai, February 26 Abhishek Sharma rediscovered his form with a typically explosive fifty, and Hardik Pandya smashed a half-century, propelling India to a formidable 256 for four against Zimbabwe in their must-win T20 World Cup Super Eight match here on Thursday.
This was India’s highest ever total in the T20 World Cups, and the overall highest in this ICC tournament, but the story of the day was Abhishek’s innings (55, 30 balls, 4 fours, 4 sixes).
After returning from a stomach bug, Abhishek looked like a shadow of his former dominant self, having gone three consecutive innings without scoring.
However, on the smooth Chepauk pitch, the left-handed batsman found his rhythm, also easing the concerns of the Indian team management about his sudden slump in form.
The 25-year-old was involved in two excellent partnerships – a 48 for the first wicket with Sanju Samson, and then a 72 off 42 balls with Ishan Kishan (38) for the second wicket – which gave the hosts a strong platform.
Including Samson in the eleven and pairing him with Abhishek proved to be a good move, as the Kerala right-handed batsman smoked 24 off 15 balls to ease any nerves that his partner had.
Once Samson departed, lofting Blessing Muzarabani to Ryan Burl in the deep, Abhishek took control of the Indian innings.
He smashed Tino Maposo, Brian Bennett, and Richard Ngarava for sixes, helping India reach 80 for one in the Power Play, their second best after the 86/1 against Namibia in a group match.
The batting flow, footwork, and eye-hand coordination, which had been missing, were back. He scored his first fifty off just 26 balls with a single off spinner Sikandar Raza.
Abhishek’s aggressive batting and the generosity of the Zimbabwean fielders helped India maintain the tempo, scoring 81 runs between overs seven and 14.
The tourists also made modest catching errors – dropping Kishan (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (4).
However, Abhishek could not extend his innings further, skying Maposa to Raza in the deep, much to Zimbabwe’s relief.
However, this relief was short-lived, as India’s middle-order batsmen, who had been struggling to maintain the pace on slower surfaces in earlier matches, rediscovered their range on the mixed soil surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
India reached the 100-run mark in 9.1 overs, and the next 100 came in just 7.3 overs.
Pandya (50 not out) and Tilak Varma (44 not out) used the long handle effectively, scoring 84 runs for the fifth wicket as India maximized the final five overs, in which 80 runs were scored.
