Abhishek, Hardik fifties fire India to 256/4 against Zimbabwe

Chennai (PTI): Abhishek Sharma rediscovered his form with a typically blazing fifty and Hardik Pandya bludgeoned a half-century, powering India to a formidable 256 for four against Zimbabwe in their must-win T20 World Cup Super Eight match here on Thursday.

It was India’s highest-ever total in T20 World Cups and the overall highest in this ICC showpiece, but the story of the day was offered by Abhishek (55, 30b, 4x4, 4x6).

Since returning from a stomach bug, Abhishek looked a distant shadow of his dominating self, registering three ducks in a row.

But on a smooth Chepauk pitch, the left-hander found his bearings, also easing the worries of the Indian team management over the sudden slump in his form.

The 25-year-old was involved in two excellent partnerships— a 48 for the opening wicket with Sanju Samson and then a 72 off 42 balls with Ishan Kishan (38) for the following wicket — that gave the hosts a strong platform.

Re-drafting Samson into the eleven and pairing him with Abhishek proved a good move eventually as the Kerala right-hander smoked 24 off 15 balls to ease any nerves that his partner had.

Once Samson departed, lofting Blessing Muzarabani to Ryan Burl in the deep, Abhishek took charge of Indian innings.

He hammered Tino Maposo, Brian Bennett and Richard Ngarava for sixes as India stormed to 80 for one in the Power Play segment, their second best after the 86/1 made against Namibia in a group match.

The bat flow, feet movement and eye-hand coordination, which were missing in this interim, was back. He fetched his first fifty off just 26 balls with a single off spinner Sikandar Raza.

Abhishek’s belligerence and the largesse of Zimbabwe fielders helped India maintain the tempo even after the Power Play overs, scoring 81 runs between overs seven and 14.

The tourists were also guilty of modest catching effort — dropping Kishan (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (4) However, Abhishek could not further extend his innings, skying Maposa to Raza in the deep, much to Zimbabwe’s relief.

However, the relief did not last long as India’s middle-order batters, who were struggling to force the pace on slower surfaces in earlier matches, rediscovered their range in the mixed soil surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

India reached the team 100 in 9.1 overs but the next 100 flowed in just 7.3 overs.

Pandya (50 not out) and Tilak Varma (44 not out) used the long handle to telling effect, scoring 84 runs for the fifth wicket as India maximised the final five overs, in which 80 runs were scored.