Zimbabwe's Struggles Continue in T20 World Cup as Raza Sees Silver Linings
Zimbabwe Faces Another Defeat in T20 World Cup
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 27: Zimbabwe suffered their second straight loss in the Super Eight stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Despite the setback, captain Sikandar Raza emphasized the importance of focusing on the positives from the match. He described his youthful team as 'a work in progress' and expressed hope that they would learn valuable lessons from this defeat in Chennai.
During the post-match presentation, Raza remarked, “You can’t win a game in the first six overs, but you can certainly lose it while chasing a large total. I felt we maintained our composure much better in the initial overs today. We aimed to give ourselves a fighting chance, and I believe the way the boys batted was a significant improvement from our last match, which is something to take heart from.”
Raza also made history by becoming the first player from a Full Member nation to achieve the milestone of 3,000 runs and 100 wickets in Men's T20 Internationals.
India opted to bat first, and their top-order batsmen delivered an impressive performance. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson set the tone with a partnership of 48 runs for the opening wicket, while Ishan Kishan added a brisk 38 runs off 24 balls, hitting five boundaries.
Suryakumar Yadav contributed 33 runs off just 13 balls, and Abhishek Sharma scored 55 runs off 30 balls. Tilak Varma's explosive 44 not out off 16 balls, alongside Hardik Pandya, propelled India to a total of over 250 runs.
Reflecting on their bowling strategy, Raza noted, “We could have executed our defensive tactics more effectively. We approached them aggressively, but our bowlers struggled with consistency, allowing them to score freely. Once the momentum shifts, it’s challenging to regain control. If we had executed our defensive plans better, we might have limited them to around 210 or 220 runs, which could have changed the outcome.”
In pursuit of a challenging target of 257 runs, Zimbabwe managed to score 184/6 in their 20 overs, with Brian Bennett leading the charge with an unbeaten 97 runs off 59 balls. Arshdeep Singh was the standout bowler for India, claiming three wickets, while Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Axar Patel each took one wicket.
On Zimbabwe's performance, Raza stated, “We are indeed a work in progress. Many of our players are experiencing their first World Cup and their first time in India. While I don’t want to use that as an excuse, we learned valuable lessons from our previous match, especially in batting, and the eagerness of these young players to improve was evident today.”
Looking ahead, India will face the West Indies in their final Super Eight match on Sunday, while Zimbabwe will compete against South Africa in Delhi on the same day.
Brief Scores: India: 256/4 (Abhishek Sharma 55, Hardik Pandya 50*, Blessing Muzarabani 1/43) defeated Zimbabwe: 184/6 in 20 overs (Brian Bennett 97*, Sikandar Raza 31, Arshdeep Singh 3/24).