Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS) Arshdeep Singh claimed 3-24 as India comfortably beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs in their Super Eights clash of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. The result meant Zimbabwe are eliminated from the competition while confirming South Africa’s place in the semifinals.

The result puts India’s campaign firmly back on track after an earlier stumble against South Africa, but it makes their clash against fellow two-time champions West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 1 a virtual knockout clash.

Zimbabwe, chasing an imposing 257, were never truly in the hunt. Yet Brian Bennett ensured the contest retained some dignity, as he struck an impressive 97 not out off 59 balls – laced with eight fours and four sixes. His lone act of defiance took Zimbabwe to a creditable 184/6, though Bennett fell three runs short of a landmark century.

Zimbabwe’s chase never gained the foothold it needed, though, to their credit, they had a wicket-less power-play. Opener Tadiwanashe Marumani struggled early and was even dropped on 17 by Ishan Kishan. But Marumani couldn’t capitalise and fell for 20 when he sliced to cover-point off Axar Patel’s second ball of the game.

Though Bennett continued to strike fantastic boundaries via loft, inside-out shot, and slog-sweep, before getting his fifty with a flat six over long-on, India continued to keep things tight – local lad Varun Chakaravarthy had Dion Myers holing out to deep mid-wicket.

By the time Sikandar Raza joined Bennett in the middle to provide some momentum, the asking rate had long since climbed to insurmountable levels. Despite that, the duo continued to plunder boundaries, especially with Shivam Dube being wayward with his bowling and conceding 26 runs in his first over.

Arshdeep then returned to have Raza hole out to long-on, before trapping Ryan Burl lbw for a two-ball duck and castling Tony Monyonga with a sharp yorker. Though Dube had Tashinga Musekiwa out in the final over, Bennett damaged his figures by hitting a six and four on the last two balls to carry his bat throughout the innings.

Though India got the win, which improves their net run rate hugely, Dube’s bowling returns will concern the think-tank. He conceded 46 runs in just two overs – the most expensive two-over spell by any bowler in T20 World Cup history – while Chakaravarthy went for 35 in his four overs.

It will be the two bowling avenues that India will want significantly sharper returns from before they face the West Indies. For now, the margin of victory spoke for itself, as India’s batting firepower – built on Abhishek Sharma’s 55 and Hardik Pandya’s late fifty – proved to be simply too much for Zimbabwe.

Brief scores:

India 256/4 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 55, Hardik Pandya 50 not out; Sikandar Raza 1-29, Tinotenda Maposa 1-40) beat Zimbabwe 184/6 in 20 overs (Brian Bennett 97 not out, Sikandar Raza 31; Arshdeep Singh 3-24) by 72 runs

–IANS

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