India registered a commanding 72-run victory over Zimbabwe in their Super Eight encounter of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on February 26. Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to field first, banking on early movement. India made two changes to their XI, with Sanju Samson and Axar Patel replacing Rinku Singh and Washington Sundar.
The decision to bowl backfired as India produced a batting masterclass, racking up 256/4 in 20 overs. Samson chipped in with 24 off 15 balls, while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan added 72 runs for the second wicket in 42 deliveries. Kishan scored 38 off 24, setting the tone for a big total. Abhishek, coming into the game after three successive ducks, responded emphatically with a fluent 55 off 30 balls, striking four boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of 183.33.
Suryakumar Yadav provided further acceleration with a brisk 33 off just 13 deliveries. The highlight of the innings, however, was the explosive partnership between Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma. The duo hammered 84 runs in only 31 balls for the fifth wicket. Pandya remained unbeaten on 50 from 23 balls, clearing the ropes four times in addition to two boundaries, while Tilak smashed 44* off just 16 deliveries. Zimbabwe’s bowlers shared the four wickets among them but struggled to contain the run flow.
Chasing 257, Zimbabwe posted 184/6 in their 20 overs. Opener Brian Bennett stood tall with an impressive unbeaten 97 off 59 balls, featuring eight fours and six sixes. He added 72 runs for the third wicket alongside Raza, but the steep target proved insurmountable. Arshdeep Singh starred with the ball, claiming 3/24, while three other Indian bowlers picked up one wicket each.
The defeat knocked Zimbabwe out of the tournament, while South Africa advanced to the semi-finals. India will next take on the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, as Zimbabwe face South Africa in Delhi.
Who Said What?
Hardik Pandya, Player of the Match
Pretty happy. I mean, yeah, it sounds strange 23-ball 50, but I think I had to reassess in the situation as well. What I meant by that, I felt I was trying to hit too hard. And just in the game, I realized, I think I can time the ball and hit sixes as well. So I think for me, it was a good game to continue the rhythm because I feel a couple of games I had which I could not do what I wanted to do. So really satisfied. Obviously, South Africa played (when asked if he was following the earlier game between South Africa and West Indies) that South Africa and West Indies game was, we all were keeping an eye. You know, now it’s all about playing good cricket, backing your skill set, you know, kind of absorbing the pressure and, making sure that you put the best foot forward. So yeah, definitely we were keeping an eye, but at the same point of time, once the game got over, we focused that this is our game. We need to focus on this. Pretty good (Talking about his bowling). I think I like bowling with a new ball. It swings. I mean, God has been kind. I have the skillset of bowling in swing, out swing both. So I really enjoy. I think it gives me the opportunity to take wickets as well. It challenges the batter as well. So yeah, pretty satisfied. I still have to bowl my one over, which I’m going to go after this.
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe (Losing Captain)
Um, I’m a guy who looked at a lot of positives. I think for me, the positive from today is, the last game, it was 250 and I felt there was a bit of panic and rush in our batting lineup. I always say that you cannot win the game in the first six overs, but you certainly can lose it if you’re chasing a big total. Today, I thought we were a lot more composed in the first six overs. We were trying to give ourselves a chance as well. And I thought the way the boys batted compared to the last game is certainly to take a lot of positives and heart from it. And that’s what I’ll do. (on what they could’ve done differently with the ball?) Yeah, certainly I think we could have executed our defensive play slightly better as well. I think we ended up going at them with hammer and tongs, and unfortunately there was a lot of mixed execution when we were bowling from all the bowlers. And they ended up getting a lot of those runs. And once the train goes at that, it’s hard to bring it back. So I thought, if one thing I would say is, I think we could have executed our defensive plans better. That would have given us a better chance to restrict them to maybe 210, 220. And you never know from there. (on their performance) Batting was, yes, but I think bowling and fielding, no, I think we could have done better there as well. I think, like I said, the last game sort of taught us how to go on about your business when you’re chasing a big total. So certainly I saw that today. Listen, we are also a work in progress as well. A lot of youngsters, most of them are playing their first World Cup, first time ever in India for us. Not that I want to use that as an excuse, but certainly the lessons from the last game, from a batting point of view, I thought we took them really well. And you can see how quickly these boys are willing to improve and they showed up today. (on their last game vs South Africa) Certainly the result will take care of itself, but what I’m looking for is definitely a better performance, fielding and bowling. And hopefully we can carry on with our batting performance and it should just keep getting better. So if we can match those three like we did in the qualifying stages, we give ourselves the best chance to win. At the World Cup against the best teams, you need all your three departments to be working hard. And unfortunately, if one lacks, then the game runs away from you. So hopefully in the last game, leave everything on the park and we try and sort out all our three departments and hopefully that gives us the best chance to win the game.
Suryakumar Yadav, India (Winning Captain)
I think we wanted to leave everything behind. We didn’t think too much about what we did in the league stage or in the last game in Ahmedabad. Our video analyst had prepared a slide for all the batters and bowlers, highlighting what we’ve done well over the past year. We looked at that, took a lot of positivity from it, and came here with clarity. With contributions from the top order right down to number seven, I think there was hardly anything missing in our performance.To be very honest, we could have been a little more clinical with the ball. But at the end of the day, a win is a win, and we’ll take it as we move forward. We’ll definitely tighten a few screws when we go and play the West Indies cricket team.I don’t want to take any credit away from the Zimbabwean batters. I think they batted beautifully. Yes, the wicket was good, but the way they approached the innings — taking their time in the powerplay and then accelerating smartly — was impressive. Credit goes to them as well. From a bowling point of view, though, we could have been a little smarter with certain options at key moments.In situations like this, we need to be courageous with our decisions. There’s no option other than taking the positive route. Once we reach Kolkata, we’ll sit down and plan properly for that game. For now, it’s about taking a day off, travelling, and relaxing.
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