Kamal Ghorui
India did not just win on Thursday night, they produced one of the most complete batting performances in their T20 World Cup history. The 256 for four against Zimbabwe was their highest total in the tournament and it came with 17 sixes, the joint most India have hit in a T20 World Cup innings, going past the 15 they struck against Australia in Gros Islet in 2024. India have now smashed 63 sixes in this edition, their highest in a single World Cup, with only West Indies on 66 ahead of them overall.What stood out even more was the collective intent. All six Indian batters scored at a strike rate above 150, the first time in T20 World Cup history that six or more players have scored 20-plus runs at that tempo in the same innings. There were only 26 dot balls in the entire 20 overs, equalling the fewest in a completed innings at the tournament. The pressure never dipped and Zimbabwe were forced to chase leather almost throughout.Abhishek Sharma set the tone. After three ducks following his return from illness, he found his rhythm with a 26-ball fifty that reignited India’s charge. Sanju Samson provided early fluency, Ishan Kishan kept the momentum intact and then Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma delivered the knockout blows. Pandya powered his way to an unbeaten fifty, while Tilak, who had faced questions over his strike rate, hammered 44 off 16 balls at a strike rate of 275. India scored 80 runs in the final five overs to put the game out of reach.Zimbabwe had their own highlight through 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 assault included a 26-run over off Shivam Dube, whose 46 runs conceded in his first two overs became the most by a bowler at that stage of a T20 World Cup match.In the larger picture, this was India rediscovering their attacking identity after a heavy defeat to South Africa. The sixes, the strike rates and the minimal dot balls all reflected a team that recalibrated quickly and struck back with authority, keeping their semifinal hopes alive in emphatic fashion.
