Chennai, February 26 – Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya struck blistering half-centuries as India posted a massive 256/4 against Zimbabwe in their crucial Super Eight clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. This is also India's highest total in this tournament and the second-highest score in the Men's T20 World Cup history.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and opted to bowl, sensing moisture in the pitch that might assist his fast bowlers. However, his gamble backfired spectacularly as India's batsmen attacked from the start, putting Zimbabwe's bowlers under pressure for most of the 20 overs, as the defending champions hit a remarkable 17 sixes, also a new record in the T20 World Cup.
Sanju Samson began the fireworks with a 15-ball 24, before Abhishek Sharma showed signs of returning to his best form by scoring a 30-ball 55. Pandya applied finishing touches by smashing an unbeaten 23-ball 50, while Tilak Varma also played his part brilliantly by scoring an unbeaten 44 off 16 balls.
The onus is now on India's bowlers to quickly dismiss Zimbabwe and gain a significant advantage in net run rate after suffering a 76-run defeat to South Africa in Ahmedabad. From the very first over, Samson, who replaced Rinku Singh to break the left-handed monotony at the top, signalled intent by hitting a six off a Richard Ngarava length ball, before smashing Blessing Muzarabani for another maximum.
Abhishek started cautiously before a no-ball boundary off Tinotenda Maposa woke him up. A driven four through the line was followed by a pulled six off a slower ball, signalling that Abhishek was ready to accelerate. However, Muzarabani struck back in the fourth over when Samson miscued an offcutter to deep midwicket. But Abhishek remained unfazed – he launched Brad Evans over cow corner and got a thick edge for four.
Ishan Kishan joined in by hitting Ngarava over fine leg and pulling with authority, before being given a reprieve by Musekiwa. The middle overs saw Abhishek continue his assault. He danced down to Bennett for a six over long-on and brought up his fifty off just 26 balls with a pull off Raza. Kishan too found rhythm, striking Raza for four and six in consecutive balls. However, Raza had the last laugh as Kishan slashed and was caught by the short third man.
Suryakumar Yadav walked in and immediately unfurled his trademark strokes – sweeping Raza for four, carving Evans over short third, and then hitting Maposa for a six and four. Meanwhile, Abhishek continued to pepper boundaries until he fell for a sparkling 55, toe-ending a slower ball to long-on.
Pandya entered to rapturous applause and wasted no time in hitting the ground running by smashing Ryan Burl for a massive 89m six over long-on. Suryakumar kept the tempo going before slicing to deep cover off Ngarava. After that, Pandya and Varma hit 11 breathtaking boundaries between themselves, including the former reaching his fifty on the final ball, to ensure India have the record for the highest score in this competition so far.
Brief scores:
India 256/4 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 55, Hardik Pandya 50 not out; Sikandar Raza 1-29, Tinotenda Maposa 1-40) against Zimbabwe
