Indian Cricket Team (ANI) India didn’t just win on Thursday night but produced one of the most complete batting performances in T20 World Cup history. The 256 for four against Zimbabwe was their highest total of the tournament and came with 17 sixes, the joint-highest total India have hit in a T20 World Cup innings, surpassing the 15 they hit against Australia at Gros Islet in 2024. India have now smashed 63 sixes in this edition, the most in a single World Cup, with a total of just 66 ahead of the West Indies.What stood out even more was the collective intent. All six Indian batsmen scored at a strike rate above 150, the first time in T20 World Cup history that six or more players have scored more than 20 runs at that pace in the same innings. There were only 26 dot balls in the entire 20 overs, the fewest in a completed innings in the tournament. The pressure never let up and Zimbabwe were forced to chase the skin almost throughout.
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Abhishek Sharma set the tone. After three ducks on his return from illness, he found his rhythm with a 26-ball fifty that reignited the Indian charge. Sanju Samson provided the initial fluidity, Ishan Kishan kept the momentum intact and Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma delivered the knockout blows. Pandya cruised to an unbeaten fifty while Tilak, who faced questions over his strike rate, blasted 44 off 16 balls in a score of 275. India scored 80 runs in the last five overs to put the game out of reach.Zimbabwe had their own highlight thanks to Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 97, the second highest individual score against India in T20 World Cups after Chris Gayle’s 98 in 2010. Bennett’s attack included 26 runs off Shivam Dube, whose 46 runs conceded in his first two T20 matches became the most by any bowler.In the bigger picture, it was India who rediscovered their attacking identity after their heavy defeat to South Africa. The sixes, strike rate and minimum score all reflected a team that quickly recalibrated and struck with authority, keeping their semi-final hopes alive in emphatic fashion.
