Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 27 (ANI): India defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs in a Super Eight fixture of the ICC Men's T20I World Cup 2026 in Chennai, and the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya said 'it was a good game to continue the rhythm' as the Men In Blue look to book a spot in the semi-finals.

Pandya was named Player of the Match for his all-round performance, where he first hit an unbeaten 23-ball half-century and then bowled three overs, conceding just 21 runs.

After taking his award during the post-match presentation, Pandya said, 'Pretty happy. It sounds 23-ball-50, but I think I had to reassess the situation as well. I felt I was trying to hit too hard. And just in the game, I realised, I think I can time the ball and hit sixes as well. It was a good game to continue the rhythm because I feel a couple of games I had, I could not do what I wanted to do.'

India were asked to bat first, and the top-order batted brilliantly to give a dashing start. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson added 48 runs for the first wicket, and Ishan Kishan contributed with a quick 38 off 24 balls with the help of five boundaries.

Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 13 balls) and Abhishek (55 off 30 balls) also contributed well. Tilak Varma (44 not out off 16 balls), along with Pandya, took India past 250 runs.

When asked if he was following the earlier game between South Africa and West Indies, Pandya said, 'Obviously, we all were keeping an eye. Now it's all about playing good cricket, backing your skill set, absorbing the pressure, and making sure that you put the best foot forward. So yeah, definitely we were keeping an eye, but at the same point of time, once the game got over, we focused on the fact that this is our game. We need to focus on this.'

Chasing a daunting target of 257 runs, Zimbabwe managed to make 184/6 in 20 overs with the help of Brian Bennett's unbeaten 97 off 59 balls. Arshdeep Singh took three wickets as Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel shared one wicket each among them.

Pandya couldn't take any wickets but bowled three overs and gave just 21 runs. Talking about his bowling, Pandya said, 'Pretty good, I think. I like bowling with the new ball. It swings. I mean, God has been kind. I have the skillset of bowling inswing and outswing. So I really enjoy. I think it gives me the opportunity to take wickets as well. It challenges the batter as well. So yeah, pretty satisfied. I still have to bowl my one over, which I'm going to go after this.'

Now, India will take on the West Indies in their last Super Eight match on Sunday, whereas Zimbabwe will fight with South Africa for a consolidatory win in Delhi on Sunday.

Brief Scores: India: 256/4 (Abhishek Sharma 55, Hardik Pandya 50*, Blessing Muzarabani 1/43) beat Zimbabwe: 184/6 in 20 overs (Brian Bennett 97*, Sikandar Raza 31, Arshdeep Singh 3/24). (ANI)