Kishan-Varma break it open
Ishan Kishan set the tone with a clean, high-tempo 82 off 44, and his 94-run partnership with Tilak Varma turned a competitive start into a runaway. India’s acceleration through the middle overs meant Zimbabwe were staring at a steep chase, and the pressure only grew as wickets kept interrupting their reply. By the time Zimbabwe’s innings fizzled out for 129 in 17.5 overs, India had sealed a 90-run win built on sustained hitting rather than a single late surge.
India’s middle-overs surge
The match was effectively decided in India’s middle phase: 118/1 at 11.8 an over. After a powerplay of 53/2, Kishan and Varma controlled the tempo, keeping boundaries flowing while avoiding the dot-ball squeeze. That one-wicket middle stretch ensured India never had to gamble at the death; even with “only” 48 coming in the final phase, the platform had already pushed the total beyond Zimbabwe’s comfort zone.
Kishan leads, bowlers close
Kishan’s 82 (SR 186) was the innings that separated the sides, with Varma’s 60 off 29 (SR 207) providing the extra gear that inflated the middle overs. For Zimbabwe, Bennett’s 32 off 19 was the lone burst of momentum. India’s bowlers then made the target feel even bigger: Abhishek Sharma’s 3/17 in 2.5 overs broke the chase, while Yash Thakur (2/30) and Prince Yadav (2/10) kept wickets and pressure coming in clusters.
Zimbabwe’s chase loses shape
Zimbabwe began with intent, racing to 49/3 in the powerplay, and their best stand — 34 between Ben Curran and Brian Bennett — briefly steadied the innings. But the middle overs brought a steady drain: 72/5, with scoring slowing and wickets preventing any sustained counterattack. The decisive squeeze came late, when Zimbabwe managed just 8 runs for 2 wickets in the death overs, leaving the chase to peter out well before the 20th.
ZIZimbabwe
125/7
INIndia
126/3
ZIZimbabwe
143/7
BABangladesh
144/6
ZIZimbabwe
152/10
BABangladesh
186/5
ZIZimbabwe
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BABangladesh
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SASouth Africa
154/5
INIndia
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WIWest Indies
254/6
SLSri Lanka
178/7
ZIZimbabwe
182/4
AUAustralia
146/10
ZIZimbabwe
169/2
OMOman
103/10
ZIZimbabwe
106/2
ZI1IN7ZIZimbabwe
125/7
INIndia
126/3
ENEngland
257/3
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ENEngland
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INIndia
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ENEngland
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INIndia
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ENEngland
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IRIreland
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INIndia
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INIndia
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NZNew Zealand
159/10
INIndia
255/5
ENEngland
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INIndia
253/7
INIndia
199/5
WIWest Indies
195/4