India kept their semifinal hopes alive with a 72-run win over Zimbabwe in their second Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Chennai on Thursday. The win means that Suryakumar Yadav’s men are placed third in the Group 1 points table, behind West Indies and table topper South Africa.
India win over Zimbabwe also meant South Africa book their semifinal spot with four points two two games. Earlier on the day the Aiden Markram-led side had defeated West Indies in Ahmedabad. England (in group 2) were the first team to qualify for the semifinals.
The loss means that Zimbabwe are out of the semifinal race in the ongoing T20 World Cup. They played South Africa in their final encounter of the tournament. India will play their game in the Super 8 in Kolkata against West Indies on March 1 at the iconic Eden Gardens.
What happened during IND vs ZIM?
On Thursday, India were asked to bat first after Zimbabwe won the toss. Playing in front of his new home in IPL, Sanju Samson gave India a flying start with a 15-ball 24. After four failures, Abhishek Sharma returned to form with a 55 off 30 balls before Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma (44 not out) forged an 82-run stand for the unbeaten fifth wicket to power India to a mammoth 256/4 in 20 overs – their highest-ever in a T20 World Cup match.
In reply, Brian Bennett was Zimbabwe’s standout batter while skipper Sikandar Raza (31 runs from 21 balls) also played a valuable knock. However, the majority of the other batters failed to turn up for Zimbabwe, who had beaten Australia and Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament. The African side were eventually restricted to 184/6.
Remaining matches in Group 1 (both on March 1)
Zimbabwe vs South Africa at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi (3 PM IST)
India vs West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (7 PM IST)
