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Published : 24 Feb 2026, 01:00 AM
Shimron Hetmyer scored a 19-ball half-century as his scorching knock of 85 led West Indies to a dominant 107-run win over Zimbabwe in their first Super Eights match at the Twenty20 World Cup, continuing the two-time champions' winning run.
Hetmyer scored the fastest fifty by a West Indian at a T20 World Cup as the two-time champions posted a mammoth total of 254-6 in Mumbai, the second-highest total in the tournament's history after Sri Lanka's 260-6 against Kenya in 2007.
Zimbabwe were all out for 147 as Gudakesh Motie took four wickets, sending two-time champions West Indies to the top of the Group One table thanks to a better net run rate than South Africa, who had beaten India on Sunday.
Zimbabwe's decision to bowl first initially paid off with opener Brandon King falling in the third over. Blessing Muzarabani almost got Hetmyer out in the next over, but Tashinga Musekiwa dropped a flat pull shot at long on.
Player-of-the-match Hetmyer hit five sixes in the last six deliveries he faced before completing his half-century in the eighth over, with West Indies looking strong at 92-2.
Musekiwa dropped Hetmyer again at the same position in the 12th over, when the 29-year-old had scored 70 runs.
Rovman Powell (59 off 35 balls) stood by Hetmyer to add 122 runs for the third wicket, until Hetmyer finally fell in the 15th over, having hit seven fours and seven sixes to score 85 off 34 balls, his personal best in T20 internationals.
Sherfane Rutherford piled further misery on Zimbabwe, scoring an unbeaten 31 from 13 balls as West Indies added 46 runs in their last three overs.
MOTIE'S FOUR-WICKET HAUL ENDS ZIMBABWE'S HOPES
Needing to chase a tournament-record 255, Zimbabwe lost three batters within five deliveries when Akeal Hosein took two wickets in a maiden over to leave the African side at 20-3 after three overs.
Dion Myers (28 off 15 balls) put up a fight, but was bowled by a flighted ball from spinner Motie (4-28), with Zimbabwe 52-4 in the seventh over.
Motie also bowled Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza (27) and Musekiwa in back-to-back deliveries, before getting Tony Munyonga (14) caught at deep midwicket, demolishing the middle order.
Facing certain defeat, Brad Evans made a defiant last stand, scoring a quick 43 to reduce the Caribbean side's margin of victory as Zimbabwe suffered their first loss in the campaign.
Zimbabwe will face defending champions India in a battle to bounce back on Thursday, the same day West Indies play last edition's finalists South Africa.
