Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard: West Indies Crush Zimbabwe by 107 Runs

The Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard from the 44th match of the Super Eights, Group 1, at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 tells a one-sided story. West Indies posted 254 for 6 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 23 February 2026, and then bowled Zimbabwe out for 147, sealing a 107-run victory that ended Zimbabwe’s unbeaten run in the tournament.

This edition of the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard was defined by one passage of play: Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell putting together a 122-run third-wicket stand off just 52 balls, the fastest hundred-run partnership of this World Cup. Hetmyer, named Player of the Match for his 85 off 34 balls, was the standout, while Brad Evans’s fighting 43 off 21 balls was the lone real resistance for a Zimbabwe side that had no answer to West Indies’ left-arm spin duo of Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein.

For neutral fans, this was simply box-office cricket: 401 combined runs, 31 sixes, and a margin of victory that instantly entered the tournament record books. For Zimbabwe supporters who had watched their side stun Australia and Sri Lanka to reach the Super Eights unbeaten, it was a harsh reality check. Every Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard search this week points back to the same story: a Caribbean batting masterclass that Zimbabwe’s bowling attack simply could not contain, followed by a Zimbabwean batting effort that never got out of first gear against high-class left-arm spin.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Match scores, statistics, and player records are based on publicly available sources at the time of publication and may be updated if official records are revised. This content is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ICC, Cricket West Indies, or Zimbabwe Cricket.

Match Summary Table

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and chose to field first, a decision that backfired badly once Hetmyer and Powell got going. West Indies were kept to a relatively sedate 55/2 in the powerplay but then exploded, racing past 150 inside 13 overs and finishing with the second-highest total in men’s T20 World Cup history. Zimbabwe’s chase never had momentum, with the innings slipping to 20/3 inside three overs and never recovering. This is exactly the kind of collapse-versus-carnage script that any Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard from a batting-friendly Wankhede pitch tends to produce.

How the Match Unfolded

West Indies’ innings began cautiously, with Brandon King and Shai Hope managing just four runs off the first over from Richard Ngarava. King fell for 9 in the third over, caught by Musekiwa off Ngarava, and Hope followed soon after for 14, caught behind the stumps region off Brad Evans with a sharp diving catch from Brian Bennett closing out the powerplay at 55/2. That was as good as it got for Zimbabwe all night.

Hetmyer, who walked in with West Indies 17/1, survived a dropped catch on nine at deep fine leg and never looked back. He raced to a 19-ball fifty — the fastest by a West Indian batter in T20 World Cup history — and kept accelerating even after Powell joined him. The pair added 100 runs in just 45 balls and eventually 122 in 52 balls before Hetmyer, dropped a second time on 70, was finally caught by Bennett off Graeme Cremer for 85. Powell fell shortly after for 59, and the final flourish came from Rutherford (31* off 13), Shepherd (21 off 10) and Holder (13 off just 4 balls), as West Indies plundered 38 runs off the last two overs to reach 254/6.

Zimbabwe’s reply started disastrously. Marumani, Bennett, and Burl were all back in the hut with the score still on 20 inside three overs, with Hosein and Forde sharing the early damage. Myers (28) and Raza (27) offered brief resistance, adding useful runs before both fell to Motie, who was finding vicious turn off the surface. Musekiwa was bowled without scoring in the very next over, and by the time Munyonga, Cremer, and Muzarabani had all departed cheaply, Zimbabwe were 103/9 with the game long gone. Evans’s defiant 43 off 21 balls, including a 44-run last-wicket stand with Ngarava, added some respectability to the final margin but never threatened a genuine recovery.

Batting Highlights Table

West Indies Innings (254/6, 20 overs)

Zimbabwe Innings (147 all out, 17.4 overs)

Hetmyer and Powell’s 122-run stand off 52 balls was the launchpad, and cameos from Rutherford (31* off 13), Shepherd (21 off 10) and Holder (13 off 4) turned a big total into a record-threatening one in the final overs. Every West Indies batter who got to the crease scored at a strike rate north of 75, a rare feat of consistency across an entire top order. For Zimbabwe, the top order collapsed to 20/3 inside three overs (Marumani, Bennett, and Burl all falling cheaply), and the middle order fared little better, with four batters — Burl, Musekiwa, Cremer, and Muzarabani — failing to trouble the scorers at all. Only Evans’s late assault, five sixes in a 21-ball 43, and his 44-run last-wicket stand with Ngarava kept the margin from stretching even further.

Bowling Figures Table

Zimbabwe Bowling (vs West Indies)

West Indies Bowling (vs Zimbabwe)

No Zimbabwean bowler went for under 9.5 an over, with Raza’s own spell the most expensive (0 for 52 from three overs) as West Indies’ late hitters targeted him specifically. Even Cremer, the most economical of the frontline attack at 9.50, still leaked almost a run a ball once Hetmyer and Powell were set. In reply, Motie’s career-best 4 for 28 and Hosein’s 3 for 28 — both at an economy of exactly 7.00 — strangled Zimbabwe’s chase from the middle overs onward, while Forde chipped in with two wickets, including the crucial breakthrough of Evans in the final over to wrap up the innings.

Key Moments & Tactical Analysis

Toss impact: Raza’s decision to bowl first looked reasonable on a used surface but backfired once West Indies’ middle order got set; batting first and posting a total for Zimbabwe’s own aggressive top order to defend might have changed the complexion of this match entirely.

Powerplay momentum: West Indies were kept to just 55/2 inside the first six overs, but Zimbabwe’s failure to strike again through overs 7-14 let Hetmyer and Powell dictate terms completely. That 13-over period without a wicket is really where the game slipped away from Zimbabwe.

Turning point: The 122-run stand between Hetmyer and Powell, completed in just 52 balls, was the single biggest swing of the match — West Indies went from a defendable total to a near-unassailable one inside five overs. Two dropped catches off Hetmyer, on 9 and again on 70, compounded the damage.

Captaincy decisions: Raza’s choice to bowl three overs of his own spin backfired badly (0 for 52), while frontline seamers Ngarava and Evans also leaked in excess of 11 runs an over. With hindsight, introducing Cremer — the most economical bowler on the day — earlier in the innings might have slowed West Indies’ acceleration.

Pitch/dew factor: The Wankhede surface offered true bounce and short straight boundaries all night, and once dew set in during the second innings, Zimbabwe’s already-struggling spinners found even less purchase, while West Indies’ left-arm pair of Hosein and Motie still managed to grip the ball well enough to run through the top order.

Batting depth: The contrast in batting depth was stark — West Indies’ last five batters in the order (Rutherford, Shepherd, Holder, Hosein, Motie, Joseph) all averaged strike rates well over 200 where they got to bat, while Zimbabwe’s middle and lower order combined for just 21 runs across six batters before Evans’s rearguard action.

Key Stats Table

Between the two innings, 31 sixes were struck at Wankhede — a new record for a single match in men’s T20 World Cup history. Any statistical breakdown in a Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard this lopsided inevitably comes back to boundary count: West Indies cleared the ropes 19 times to Zimbabwe’s 12, and their overall run rate was more than 50% higher across the 20 overs. West Indies also conceded more extras (21 to Zimbabwe’s 9), largely through wides, a small but telling sign of the pressure their bowlers were under even while defending a mammoth total.

Records Broken in This Match

This particular Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard will live in the record books for reasons beyond the final margin. West Indies’ 254/6 is the second-highest total in men’s T20 World Cup history, behind only Sri Lanka’s 260/6 against Kenya in 2007. Their 19 sixes in the innings are the joint-most ever hit by a team in a men’s T20 World Cup innings. Hetmyer and Powell’s 122-run third-wicket partnership is West Indies’ highest for that wicket in T20 World Cup history, eclipsing the previous mark of 97 set by Lendl Simmons and Johnson Charles. On the bowling side, Raza’s 52 runs conceded is now the most expensive innings figure by a Zimbabwean bowler in a men’s T20 World Cup, surpassing Blessing Muzarabani’s earlier record of 50. And at the other end of the innings, Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava’s 44-run 10th-wicket stand is the highest last-wicket partnership in men’s T20 World Cup history. Finally, the 31 sixes hit across both innings combined set a new record for a single match at this level of the competition.

Head-to-Head Analysis & Historical Rivalry

This clash was only the fifth-ever T20I meeting between the two sides, making the rivalry a genuinely fresh one at international level compared to storied contests like India-Pakistan or Australia-England. Zimbabwe arrived in Mumbai unbeaten in the tournament after topping their group with wins over Australia and Sri Lanka, while West Indies came in having won all four of their group games. Both teams were unbeaten heading into the Super Eights, but this result gave West Indies a clear psychological edge in a rivalry still being written. Anyone tracking Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Matches over the coming years will find this 2026 World Cup meeting referenced often, given the sheer number of records broken in a single evening at Wankhede.

Where To Watch Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team

Fans searching for Where To Watch Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team fixtures during the T20 World Cup 2026 could follow this match and the rest of the Super Eights across the tournament’s official global broadcast partners, including Star Sports/JioHotstar in India, Sky Sports in the UK, and Willow TV in the United States, alongside regional partners like SuperSport and PTV Sports. For the latest Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Standings and upcoming fixtures, the ICC’s official tournament site remains the most reliable source.

Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Players in the Spotlight

Among the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Players who stood out, Hetmyer’s Player-of-the-Match display (85 off 34 balls plus two catches on the field) was the headline act, but Motie’s career-best bowling figures and Evans’s fighting 43 also deserve mention. For West Indies, cameos further down the order from Rutherford, Shepherd, and Holder helped push the total past 250, while for Zimbabwe, the tail-end stand between Evans and Ngarava — the highest 10th-wicket partnership in men’s T20 World Cup history — was the only real resistance once the top order had been dismantled. Captains Shai Hope and Sikandar Raza will both take different lessons from this contest as their teams look ahead to the rest of the Super Eights.

What This Result Means Going Forward

For West Indies, this win keeps their perfect record intact and sends a statement to every other side left in the tournament: Shai Hope’s team, unbeaten in five matches now, has the batting depth to post match-winning totals against any attack. For Zimbabwe, the defeat is a setback but not a disaster — their net run rate takes a significant hit, but they remain firmly in contention depending on how the rest of the Super Eights unfolds. Sikandar Raza’s side will need to regroup quickly, address their over-reliance on part-time spin options, and find a way to counter high-quality left-arm spin bowling of the kind Motie and Hosein produced here. Both sides now turn to their remaining Super Eight fixtures, where every run and every wicket in the net run rate column could prove decisive.

Conclusion

This Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Match Scorecard will be remembered for record-breaking batting rather than a competitive contest. West Indies’ 254/6 stands as the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history, and their 107-run margin of victory is their biggest at this edition of the tournament. For Zimbabwe, the defeat ended a promising unbeaten run but doesn’t erase the progress shown earlier in the competition. Both sides now turn to their remaining Super Eight fixtures, where net run rate — badly dented for Zimbabwe by this result — could well decide who advances to the semifinals.

? FAQs

What was the final score?

West Indies 254/6 (20 overs) beat Zimbabwe 147 all out (17.4 overs) by 107 runs.

Who was Player of the Match?

Shimron Hetmyer, for his 85 off 34 balls and two catches.

Who scored most runs?

Shimron Hetmyer, with 85 off 34 balls.

Who took most wickets?

Gudakesh Motie, with 4 for 28.

What was the turning point?

The 122-run third-wicket partnership between Hetmyer and Powell, built off just 52 balls.

Where was the match played?

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on 23 February 2026.

Who won the toss?

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and chose to field first.

Be sure to read our detailed guide to view the full match statistics. :- matchlifestats.com