West Indies began the Super Eight stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup with a crushing 107 run win over Zimbabwe in Mumbai, powered by a huge total and a brutal spell from their left arm spinners.
Shimron Hetmyer starred at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, blasting 85 off 34 balls as West Indies racked up 254 for 6.
It was the highest score of this tournament and the second highest total in T20 World Cup history.
Zimbabwe, playing their first ever Super Eight match after an unbeaten start to the tournament that included wins over Australia and Sri Lanka, chose to bowl and briefly kept West Indies quiet early.
The Caribbean side were 55 for 2 after the powerplay before Hetmyer turned the match on its head.
Hetmyer reached his half century in 19 balls, the fastest by a West Indies batter at a T20 World Cup and kept attacking until he was caught on the boundary.
Captain Rovman Powell made 59 and West Indies ended with 19 sixes and 16 fours to surge past 250.
The run chase never got going. Zimbabwe fell to 20 for 3 inside three overs as the required rate blew out with Matthew Forde striking early and Akeal Hosein removing Brian Bennett.
Dion Myers scored 28 and skipper Sikandar Raza hit 27 but neither could change the game.
Late hitting from Brad Evans, who smashed 43 off 21 balls helped Zimbabwe avoid a worse scoreline. His 44 run last wicket stand with Richard Ngarava set a T20 World Cup record for the 10th wicket.
West Indies spinners then closed it out, with Gudakesh Motie taking 4 for 28 and Hosein 3 for 28 as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 147 in 17.4 overs.
The win also moved West Indies to the top of their Super Eight group on net run rate.
