Mumbai, February 23 – A decision to stop overthinking his batting, a habit he had in the past, and his move to the No.3 position in the batting order seem to have worked wonders for West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer, who unleashed a massive attack, scoring 85 runs in 34 balls with multiple boundaries, helping West Indies defeat Zimbabwe by 107 runs in a Super 8 clash at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Monday.
Hetmyer smashed seven fours and seven sixes as he scored a 50-run innings in 19 balls, the fastest by a West Indies batsman in the T20 World Cup, and helped his team post a massive total of 254/6 in 20 overs, the highest team total in this World Cup and the second highest in the tournament's history.
Hetmyer said that what worked for him was stopping to overanalyze his batting, which he used to do in the past. He said he has decided to let his bat do the talking.
"Not overthinking my batting. I used to overthink in the past. Now, I'm trying to think less, and the bat will do the talking, and I react to what's in front of me," said Hetmyer, who was named the Player of the Match for his outstanding performance.
Hetmyer, who had two lucky breaks, the first before he even scored 10 runs, and again at 30, with Tashinga Musekiwa dropping both catches. Hetmyer capitalized on his luck and continued to dominate the bowling, hitting six massive sixes against Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza, scoring 33 runs in nine balls.
Hetmyer said the innings was important for him because he didn't score many runs in the previous game.
"It's important. Especially because I didn't score many runs in the last game. I just want to replicate what I've been doing in the last two months," said Hetmyer.
The 29-year-old from Guyana said that moving to the No.3 position in the batting order has made things easier for him.
"It feels good. It's a lot easier now because I've been doing it often. Having the support from everyone makes it a more comfortable environment," he said.
Hetmyer refused to focus too much on becoming the leading six-hitter in the event, along with his former teammate Nicholas Pooran, who had 17 sixes.
"I'm not thinking too much about it. It feels good to achieve something like that. As a team, we haven't achieved anything yet, because this is just one game. I have my family back home who have been supporting me, and that helps me perform better," he added.
The win helped West Indies join South Africa with one win in the Super 8 stage, and they lead the table with a better Net Run Rate (NRR) than West Indies, mainly due to Hetmyer, who laid the foundation for the big win.
