T20 World Cup: India beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs to maintain title defence

India enjoyed a relatively comfortable passage through the preliminary group stage, winning all four of their matches and passing 190 twice with the bat, but their wings were clipped by South Africa in the opening match of the Super 8 tournament.

Chasing 187, they were bowled out for 111 – a score that left them in almost must-win territory as they headed to Chennai.

Zimbabwe captain Raza, whose team was in a similar situation, said during the draw that it would “come down to a battle of nerves”. India showed nothing as they made their highest total in a T20 World Cup and crossed 250 in a men’s T20I for the fifth time.

Sharma, who entered the match under pressure having registered three ducks in his last four innings, set the tone with a half-century off 26 balls.

Initially content to play second fiddle to Sanju Samson, who hit the second ball of the match for a six and fired a quickfire 24 (15), taking India to 80-1 at the end of the power play, hitting three fours and three sixes.

His second partnership with Ishan Kishan (38) was worth 72 runs and although Kishan was unable to capitalize on Tashinga Mosekiwa to drop him on 26, Suryakumar Yadav punished a sloppy Zimbabwe. The India skipper was beaten in the eighth over by Blessing Muzarabani on 33 (13).

It was Zimbabwe’s fifth drop from 15 attempts in Super 8s. In the group stage, in which they were unbeaten, they achieved a catch efficiency of 95.2% and only conceded one goal.

Although Suryakumar was batting over 250, his departure sparked a turnaround for India, with Hardik and Varma scoring 84 runs in the last 5.1 overs, including seven sixes. Hardik raced from 12 (8) to 50 not out (23) while Varma found the boundary seven times in 16 deliveries.

On a painful day, Zimbabwe’s four bowlers leaked 3-197 from 14 overs.