T20 World Cup: Motie, Hetmyer Run Riot As West Indies Thwart Zimbabwe By 107 Runs In Record-Breaking Super 8

West Indies vs Zimbabwe T20 World Cup: Gudakesh Motie’s four-wicket haul and Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive blitz led West Indies to a commanding 107-run victory over Zimbabwe despite Brad Evans’ late blitz in the T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.

Hetmyer blasted an 85 off 34 balls, featuring 7 fours and 7 sixes, to propel the team to 254/6, the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history.

The West Indies meant business on a flat deck to clatter 19 sixes and 16 fours in all, amassing 254/6 on the back of Hetmyer's 34-ball 85 and Powell's 35-ball 59. The Caribbean side narrowly missed Sri Lanka's record total of 260/6 set against Ireland in the inaugural edition of the competition in 2007.

Zimbabwe’s Chase

In their reply, a battered Zimbabwe crumbled in the face of an imposing target and the contest was sealed as early as in the third over, when Akeal Hosein (3/28) returned with a rare double-wicket maiden.

The slide began when Zimbabwe's best batter in the tournament Brian Bennett (5) was cleaned up by Hosein, and they had lost opener Tadiwanashe Marumani (14) to Matthew Forde, caught by Hetmyer.

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Hetmyer had more catching to do when Ryan Burl (0) hit one straight to mid-wicket off Hosein, which left Zimbabwe reeling at 20/3 inside three overs.

Gudakesh Motie (4/28) then struck twice in as many balls to leave Zimbabwe gasping in the 11th over, and the African side eventually rolled over for 147 in 17.4 overs.

Brad Evans' career-best 43 off 21 balls (2 fours, 5 sixes) and his record 44-run stand for the 10th wicket with Richard Ngarava reduced the margin of defeat.

The outcome also saw West Indies notching up their fifth straight win here at the Wankhede Stadium in T20 World Cup history, which began in their title-winning run in 2016.

West Indies’ Innings

Hetmyer's first-innings exploits on a batting haven saw the West Indies No. 3 bettering his own record of fastest ever half-century for his side, off only 19 balls as opposed to the 22 deliveries he had consumed earlier in the tournament against Scotland.

Aided by a couple of lifelines, Hetmyer peeled off his second fifty of the tournament by pummelling seven sixes and as many fours.

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West Indies plundered as many as 124 runs between overs 2-12, with Hetmyer getting strong support from Powell. The two West Indies batters put on 122 off 52 balls for the third wicket.

Powell's knock included four hits to the fence and as many over it. Towards the end, Sherfane Rutherford (31 not out), Romario Shepherd (21) and Jason Holder (13) took the West Indies past 250.