West Indies vs Zimbabwe (AP Photo)
New Delhi: West Indies produced a crushing performance to beat Zimbabwe by 107 runs in the T20 World Cup Super Eights match in Mumbai, starting their campaign in dominant fashion.
With the win, West Indies overtook South Africa to top the Group A points table in the T20 World Cup Super 8s. The Windies currently boast a superior net run rate (NRR) of +5.350, ahead of second-placed South Africa, who have an NRR of +3.800.
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With only the top two teams from the group qualifying for the semi-finals, India, currently in third place with -3,800 NRR, may find it difficult to enter the knockout stage if there is a tie on points at the end of this ongoing stage. After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Zimbabwe were punished severely when the West Indies batsmen made a massive attack at the Wankhede pitch.Shimron Hetmyer was the star of the show, smashing a brilliant 85 off just 34 balls to help West Indies to a massive 254-6, the second highest ever total in T20 World Cup history. Hetmyer was dropped early in his innings, and Zimbabwe paid dearly for the mistake.
He raced to his fifty in just 19 balls and added a quick century partnership with Rovman Powell, who also played a blistering knock of 59 off 35 balls. After they got out, Sharvan Rutherford kept the scoring going with 31 not out, while Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder added quick runs at the end, with 38 not out from the last two overs.Chasing a huge target of 255, Zimbabwe had a nightmare start. They were reduced to 20-3 through the first three overs and never recovered.
Although Brad Evans fought hard with a late 43 off 21 balls, the rest of the batting collapsed under the pressure. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 147 in 17.4 overs.Left-arm spinners Gudakesh Moti and Akhil Hossain dominated the ball, taking four and three wickets respectively to seal an emphatic win. The match showed the huge gap between the two sides on the day, with West Indies sending a strong message in the Super Eight stage.
