IND vs ZIM: India made the second highest score of T20 World Cup, gave a target of 257 runs to Zimbabwe

New Delhi: Today (26 February) India will face Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the Super-8 round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. In this match, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Indian team has given Zimbabwe a target of 257 runs to win. India scored 256 runs for 4 wickets, which was the highest score of any team in this World Cup. This is the second highest score in the history of T20 World Cup. The highest score is 260 runs, which was made by Sri Lanka against Kenya in 2007.

Hardik Pandya scored unbeaten 50 runs. Whereas Abhishek Sharma scored 55 runs. Tilak Verma scored 44 not out. Indian team had a good start. Sanju Sassaman and Abhishek Sharma together added 48 runs for the first wicket. Sanju Sasson was out after scoring 24 runs. Sanju was caught out by Blessing Muzarabani by Ryan Burl. From here Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma together made a partnership of 72 runs for the second wicket. During this partnership, Abhishek completed fifty in 26 balls. In the current World Cup, Abhishek has crossed the 50 mark for the first time.

India’s second wicket fell in the form of Ishan Kishan (38 runs), who was caught by Sikandar Raza at the hands of Richard Nagarwa. Shortly after Ishaan was out, Abhishek Sharma also started walking on the ball of Tinotendo Maposa. Abhishek scored 55 runs in 30 balls with the help of four sixes and four fours. Captain Suryakumar Yadav showed a stormy style and scored 33 runs in 13 balls, which included 3 fours and 2 sixes. Richard Ngarava took the wicket of Suryakumar.

What changes took place in the playing 11 in the IND vs ZIM match?

In this match, there has been a change in the playing 11 of both the teams. Rinku Singh and Washington Sundar are out of this contest. Sanju Samson and Akshar Patel have been entered in their place. Tinotenda Maphosa has entered the Zimbabwe team in place of Graeme Cremer.

Chennai pitch and weather

Chepauk ground in Chennai was earlier famous for spinners, but in this World Cup it has proved to be the best ground for batsmen. Here both the average and strike rate have been high. The fast bowlers have had to struggle the most here. On Thursday, a black soil pitch will be used, on which New Zealand had achieved the target of 183 runs in just 17.5 overs.

India and Zimbabwe had met only once before in the T20 World Cup in 2022, when India won by 71 runs with Suryakumar Yadav’s inning of 61 runs in 25 balls. For the first time, Zimbabwe has played a T20 International match against the host team in India. The last encounter between the two teams in India was in an ODI in 2002.

India vs Zimbabwe head to head (in T20)

India’s dominance is clearly visible in the 13 T20 International matches played between India and Zimbabwe from 2010 to 2024. India won 10 matches and lost only 3, giving its win percentage at 76.92. Whereas Zimbabwe got only 3 wins and had to face 10 defeats, its winning percentage was 23.07. No match between the two teams was tied or inconclusive. A total of 1 match has been played between India and Zimbabwe in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, in which India won. This match was played in Melbourne on 6 November 2022.

Zimbabwe’s playing 11: Brian Bennett, Tadivanashe Marumani (wicketkeeper), Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (captain), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Tinotendo Maphosa, Richard Ngarwa, Blessing Muzarabani.

India’s playing 11: Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakraborty.

India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dubey, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakraborty, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

Zimbabwe squad: Alexander Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maphosa, Tadivanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarwa, Ben Curran.