Mon, Feb 23, ’26
by KRISSANIA YOUNG
For a team that thrives on chasing, the West Indian spinners have ruled the art of defense in India
West Indies 254 for 6 (Hetmyer 85, Powell 59; Muzarabani 2-42) beat Zimbabwe 147 all out (Evans 43, Myers 28; Motie 4-28) by 107 runs
The West Indies bowled off the Super Eights phase of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with an emphatic 107-run win over Zimbabwe at the Wankhede on Monday. In a batting display teeming with attacking shots and huge sixes, accentuated by swagger, Windies brought the Caribbean to Mumbai, mounting a mammoth 254 before their spinners wreaked havoc to cripple Zimbabwe’s chase.
Zimbabwe had to go. 255 runs were required for victory, and they had only 120 balls in which to get them. Courtesy of a few streaky boundaries, they managed 20 from the first 11 balls of the chase before Matthew Forde had Tadiwanashe Marumani (14) caught in the deep at the end of the 2nd over.
Akeal Hosein (3/28) bowled Brian Bennett (5) with a peach to begin the 3rd before removing Ryan Burl for a duck three balls later. Zimbabwe had lost three wickets without scoring another run. Sikandar Raza and Dion Myers stemmed the flow of wickets with a 32-run stand (24 balls), before Raza put on 42 (23 balls) with Tony Munyonga.
Both partnerships were ended by Gudakesh Motie (4/28), who found himself on a hat trick after bowling Raza (27) and Musekiwa (0) in consecutive deliveries to leave Zimbabwe 94 for 6 in the 11th.
With the West Indies rolling to a certain victory, the procession resumed with Zimbabwe losing three wickets for 8 runs. The final pair, Brad Evans (43) and Richard Ngarava (7), then fashioned the highest partnership of the innings (44 from 19), which was ended by a Matthew Forde (2/27) slower ball, wrapping up Zimbabwe’s response at 147 in 17.4 overs.
Though undefeated in the tournament, the West Indies came into the Super Eights, striking at an unimpressive 7.5 (rpo) in the powerplay. Brandon King’s knock earlier in the night did little to boost that stat, as his 12-ball nine saw his average dip under 15 in the competition.
Following King’s wicket, Zimbabwe should have had two in two overs. Shimron Hetmyer was, however, dropped on 9 by Musekiwa in the 4th off Blessing Muzarabani (2/42). The left-hander went on to star in a 37-run (19 balls) partnership with Shai Hope before the skipper was brilliantly taken in the deep off the penultimate ball of the phase for a 12-ball 14.
At 54 for 2 in the 6th, and with Roston Chase out of the XI, the West Indies decided against holding back Rovman Powell. Powell took a few deliveries to get into his work, watching from the other end as Hetmyer carted the spinners over the fence.
The left-hander hit five maximums in six balls off Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza, the last of which brought him the fastest fifty (19 balls) by a West Indian at the T20 World Cup. Even with the fielding restrictions relaxed, there was no slowing down. The West Indies smashed 60 runs between overs seven and ten (24 balls), getting to 115 for 2 at drinks.
Hetmyer was given another life in the 12th on 70, once again by Musekiwa, this time off the bowling of Brad Evans. Powell, in the meantime, was targeting pace. After scoring 14 from his first 16 balls, the former captain changed gears with a six to close out that Evans over.
He followed that up with a four and a six off Dion Myers, then a maximum and two boundaries when Evans returned in the 14th. Powell smashed 36 runs in 13 deliveries to bring up a 29-ball fifty.
The 122-run stand (52 balls) was broken when Cremer had Hetmyer (85 from 34) excellently taken in the deep in the 15th. Zimbabwe surely harbored thoughts of pulling things back when Musekiwa finally held on to one to hand Muzarabani the wicket of Powell (59) at the start of the 17th with West Indies 194 for 4.
But there would be no respite for Zimbabwe, as Romario Shepherd joined Sherfane Rutherford, and the pair smashed four maximums in their 15 balls together on their way to a 35-run stand.
Shepherd’s wicket in the 18th brought Jason Holder to the crease, and the all-rounder began the ultimate over with two maximums before he was caught, leaving Rutherford to finish the innings with a boundary, which got the West Indies up to 254 for 6 from their allotment.
