West Indies put on six-fest to floor Zimbabwe

The last time they played a fixture in India, Zimbabwe were knocked out of the T20 World Cup even before the eventual champions West Indies played their first game of the tournament. On Monday, the Men in Maroon showed Zimbabwe what they 'missed out' on with a performance reminiscent of their 2016 heroics.

Boundaries were cleared with ease on 19 different occasions—a joint World Cup record. The highest total of the ongoing edition, 254/6, was posted, which is also the second-highest total ever in the tournament's history. Zimbabwe suffered a mammoth 107-run loss at the Wankhede Stadium in their first Super Eights fixture.

Adapting from Sri Lanka's slower pitches to India's batting-friendly surfaces was always going to be Zimbabwe's biggest challenge after their group-stage success. They found out the hard way when Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell put on a six-fest that essentially killed the contest in the first half.

Things might have been different had Tashinga Musekiwa held a chance from Hetmyer when he was on just 9. But it wasn't to be for a side unaccustomed to playing under lights. Given the margin of defeat, it's questionable if it would have changed the result.

Zimbabwe started decently as Brandon King's poor run continued and Shai Hope fell before the end of a powerplay in which West Indies made 55. The real carnage arrived with Hetmyer taking charge against spin, smashing Graeme Cremer for back-to-back sixes. Even Sikandar Raza wasn't spared, with Hetmyer clearing the ropes three times off the Zimbabwe skipper. Those five sixes came in six deliveries as he raced to a 19-ball fifty. Raza's efforts in his second over proved futile.

At the halfway mark, West Indies had 115. When Cremer extracted turn to trouble Powell, a fightback seemed possible, but Powell immediately took over. If Hetmyer dismantled the spinners, Powell was brutal against pace, disdainfully tonking his way to a half-century. By the time Brian Bennett ended the century stand with a fine catch, the damage was done. The carnage continued as Jason Holder, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd added more sixes in the final five overs, pushing the total beyond Zimbabwe's reach.

The writing was on the wall when West Indies struck thrice in the first 16 deliveries of Zimbabwe's chase. Akeal Hosein beat Bennett fair and square. Once West Indies passed 200, it was always going to be tough for Bennett to maintain his proud record of not being dismissed in the tournament. Three balls after his dismissal, Ryan Burl found a fielder.

From 20/3, Zimbabwe clawed back decently. Dion Myers hit timely boundaries, and Raza caught up despite taking eight balls to get off the mark. At the halfway mark, Zimbabwe were 87/4, but any hopes of batting out the overs and limiting NRR damage ended when Gudakesh Motie struck twice in two deliveries. He added another in his final over to finish with a four-wicket haul.

In a final act that gave Zimbabwe some cheer on a gloomy evening, Evans smashed five sixes in 10 balls before becoming the 10th victim. Given the margin of defeat, this result's implications likely extend beyond hurting Zimbabwe's chances. India must now dent Zimbabwe further and hope South Africa end West Indies' unbeaten run on the same day.

Brief scores: West Indies 254/6 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 85, Rovman Powell 59; Blessing Muzarabani 2/42) beat Zimbabwe 147 in 17.4 overs (Dion Myers 28; Gudakesh Motie 4/28, Akeal Hosein 3/28) by 107 runs.