Chennai, February 27 He fell three runs short of a T20 World Cup century, but Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett said that while it would have been nice to reach the milestone, he is grateful for his unbeaten innings, which was the only bright spot in his team's chase against India.
Bennett's 97 not out (59 balls; 8 fours, 6 sixes) proved futile as Zimbabwe lost by 72 runs against a dominant India, who had piled up a massive 256 for 4 before restricting the visitors to 184 for 6 in their T20 World Cup Super 8 clash here.
"Yes, it would have been nice. Cricket is sometimes like that, I'm not always going to reach that milestone. I'm just grateful for today, to get out there and play a good innings, but I couldn't quite get over the line... 250 (257) was going to be a tough target to win," the 22-year-old told reporters.
On the lack of substantial partnerships during the chase, Bennett said: "I just told them when they came in – listen, if you see the ball, just hit the ball. Don't worry about what I want, don't worry about me, just do your thing, and that's what the conversations were about."
Bennett took on India's top pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the 13th over, smashing a six over long-on to reach his fifty.
"He (Bumrah) was always going to be a tough bowler to face, (it was) my first time facing him. (He is) a top-class, world-class bowler. My thought process was just to watch the ball as closely as I could and just let my body do the action. The ball was in my zone, and I just hit it," he said.
Reflecting on the enormity of the chase, Bennett admitted that the task was always going to be difficult.
"Chasing 250-260 is going to be very tough. The opportunity to just go out there and express yourself, not worry too much about the scoreboard, just be yourself, play to your strengths, and if it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't – and today, it didn't work as we wanted, but 250 is always going to be a tough target to chase."
Despite the defeat, Bennett said that Zimbabwe would draw positives from their maiden Super 8 appearance.
"It's the first time for us as Zimbabwe to qualify for the Super 8s, so obviously there have been a lot of highs in the tournaments so far, and for that, we are grateful," he said.
"We have one more game against South Africa, and we will try to learn as much as possible. We have learned a lot from the last two games against West Indies and India today. So now, it's mainly about learning and looking at where we can improve as a team and as individuals as well.
"The two previous games weren't disappointing, but a lot has been learned, and hopefully, it will bear fruit in the future.”
