After this big win, India need just one match to win against West Indies in their last Super 8 match to qualify for the semi-finals. After West Indies lost to South Africa today. Both India and West Indies are level on points after one win and one loss. It will be a virtual quarter-final for both countries.
India need to win their last match against West Indies
India will be hoping that South Africa win their last match against Zimbabwe and qualify as the first team from Group 1. However, the result of that match will not affect India much as they have a lower run rate than the Proteas. So even if the Proteas lose, they won’t drop to second place.
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Coming to the match, India were invited to bat first, and they smashed the Zimbabwean bowlers all over the park, scoring 256/4 in their 20 overs and posting the highest T20 World Cup total for this edition and the second highest in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Abhishek Sharma is finally back in form
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma laid the foundation for the team’s total. India have made two changes in the form of Samson and Axar Patel. Samson scored 24 off 15 to give a good start for the Men in Blue as they scored 48 for the first wicket, which was also the highest opening score for India in this edition of the T20 World Cup.
Abhishek also scored his first fifty in this competition and might have just picked up the form ahead of the important match against the Windies. He scored 55 off 30 balls. Ishan Kishan and skipper Suryakumar Yadav played crucial knocks towards the middle overs as they did not let the run rate dip. The first scored 38 out of 24, and SKY played a knock of 33 out of 14.
Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma gave India the finish they needed. The two scored 55 in the last three overs of the match. Hardik scored 50 off 23 balls, and Tilak, who struggled to score quick runs in the edition, struck at 275.00, scoring 44 off 16 as they set a target of 257.
Zimbabwe have never aspired to chase such a big total
Zimbabwe looked decent when they went in pursuit, but they didn’t have the firepower to chase down such a big target. They continued to strike at a good pace, but ultimately failed to chase down. They are now out of the semi-finals after two consecutive defeats.
Brian Bennett, what a tournament he has had, as he scored a career-high score of 97 off 59 balls, with eight fours and six sixes. The opener remained unbeaten till the end of the innings. Arshdeep Singh was the standout performer in the bowling, picking 3/24 as they scored 184/6.
Also read: Former India captain points out major weakness in Sanju Samson’s batting against Zimbabwe
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