T20 World Cup: West Indies smash 254 to flatten Zimbabwe in Wankhede Super 8 run-fest

MUMBAI: The brief to Shimron Hetmyer in this tournament is clear: take on the opposition bowlers and put them under pressure. That highrisk approach has its pitfalls but when the opposition offers chances, the threat of failure diminishes.

On Monday, Zimbabwe dropped Hetmyer twice and the left-hander made them pay with a blistering 34-ball 85, helping West Indies pile up 254/6 — the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history — in their opening Super Eights match at the Wankhede Stadium.

In reply, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 147 in 17.4 overs, losing by 107 runs. For West Indies, the wreckers-in-chief were the spin duo of Gudakesh Motie (4/28) and Akeal Hosein (3/28), who shared seven wickets between them.

Around 20,000 fans watched in awe as Hetmyer dismantled the Zimbabwe attack. By the time he was done, the 29-year-old had struck seven fours and as many sixes, with 70 of his 85 runs coming in boundaries. He took his tally to 17 sixes in five matches, equalling the record for most sixes in a T20 World Cup edition set by his former teammate Nicholas Pooran in 2024. The 19 sixes hit by West Indies matched the record for the most in a T20 World Cup innings.

Hetmyer walked in during the third over and began with a classy flick to deep midwicket. West Indies were initially checked by Zimbabwe’s new-ball pair of Richard Ngarava (2/47) and Blessing Muzarabani (2/42), reaching 55/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Then came the onslaught.

Hetmyer struck five sixes in six balls, racing from 23 off 13 deliveries to 53 off 20. The Rajasthan Royals batter smashed two sixes off the final two balls of Graeme Cremer’s (1/38) first over and followed that with three more maximums in Sikandar Raza’s (0/52) over, taking 33 runs off just nine balls from the Zimbabwe captain.

He brought up a 19-ball halfcentury, breaking his own record for the fastest T20 World Cup fifty by a West Indian — eclipsing the 22-ball effort he had produced against Scotland at Eden Gardens earlier in the tournament.

Zimbabwe were left ruing missed chances. Tashinga Musekiwa dropped Hetmyer twice — first when he miscued a Muzarabani short ball straight to long leg early in his innings, and again when he was on 70, top-edging Brad Evans to deep midwicket. Musekiwa gestured that he had lost the ball in the lights, but the frustration of his teammates said it all.