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Abhishek Sharma celebrates his half century during an ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Zimbabwe, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.
Chennai (PTI): Star opener Abhishek Sharma struck a much-needed fifty, his first in this T20 World Cup, as the top-order fired in unison to propel India to 176/3 after 15 overs in their must-win Super Eights clash against Zimbabwe here on Thursday.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who got a reprieve on eight, was looking dangerous on 33 (13b; 2x6, 3x4) before getting out in the 15th over with Richard Ngarava giving the breakthrough.
At the 15-over mark, Hardik Pandya was on 12 (8b; 1x6), while Tilak Varma smashed his first ball for four as India were eying a 220-plus total.
Abhishek made 55 (30b; 4x4, 4x6), while Sanju Samson, who had featured in only one game earlier in the tournament against Namibia, made an immediate impact after Zimbabwe opted to bowl.
Samson struck a brisk 24 off 15 balls (2x6, 1x4) as India had their best opening partnership of 48 (23b) in this World Cup.
After Samson’s dismissal, India did not lose momentum as Ishan Kishan, promoted to No. 3, made a quick 38 (24b; 4x4, 1x6) in a 72-run partnership (42b) with Abishek, maintaining a 10-plus run-rate.
Zimbabwe were sloppy on the field and dropped their second catch giving Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav a reprieve on eight.
Ishan was earlier dropped on 26.