India easily defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs through brilliant batting and bowling in the crucial match of the Sprite stage of the T20 World Cup 2026, restoring its chances of making it to the semi-finals.
In the crucial Group One match of the Sprite played between hosts India and Zimbabwe in Chennai, Zimbabwe won the toss and invited India to bat first, which the defending champions took full advantage of and compiled the biggest total of the event.
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma started aggressively for India with 48 runs, but Mozarabani dismissed Samson in the fourth over of the match, but he had scored 24 runs in just 15 balls. Young batsman Abhishek Sharma returned to form and took the team’s score to 120 with Ishan Kishan for the second wicket. After Ishan was dismissed for 38 runs, he also shared a 30-run partnership with captain Suryakumar Yadav, during which he also completed a half-century.
When India’s score reached 150 runs, Abhishek Sharma’s innings of 55 runs ended. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixes. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for 33 runs at a score of 172. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Verma put on a big partnership of 86 runs to take India to their highest total of the ongoing World Cup, which included Pandya’s half-century and Tilak Verma’s 44 runs.
India set Zimbabwe a tough target of 257 runs to win in the allotted 20 overs, with no bowler from Zimbabwe failing to make a significant impact. Zimbabwe started off a bit slow in their chase of a big target, with Brian Bennett and Tediwanshe Marumani scoring 44 runs while Axar Patel dismissed Marumani for 20 runs, after which Devon Mayer could add only 6 runs.
Captain Sikandar Raza tried his best to keep Zimbabwe’s hopes of winning alive, but could only score 31 runs off 21 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes and when he was dismissed, the team’s score was 144 runs in the 17th over. Brian Bennett played an unbeaten 97 off 59 balls, hitting 8 fours and 6 sixes, but failed to win the match. Zimbabwe scored 184 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs.
Arshdeep Singh took the most wickets for India, taking 3 wickets, and India managed to stay in the semi-final race and easily defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs. India’s Hardik Pandya was named the player of the match for his all-round performance. It should be noted that India had lost to South Africa in the first match of the Sprite, while the next match will be against the West Indies on March 1, which will decide the team that will reach the semi-finals.
In Group One of the T20 World Cup 2026, South Africa is at the top with 4 points after winning the first two matches. West Indies is in second place after winning one of the two matches and earning two points with the best run rate. Similarly, the Indian team has earned two points with a negative run rate.
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