Watch, WI vs ZIM | Gudakesh Motie produces spinner’s delight to leave Raza and Musekiwa bamboozled

‌West Indies thrashed a hapless Zimbabwe by 107 runs in Mumbai to begin their T20 World Cup Super Eight campaign with a bang on Monday. After being put into bat the Caribbean unit amassed a huge 254/6, the second-highest total ever in the history of the marquee event since it started in 2007.

Shimron Hetmyer (85 off 34 balls) and Rovman Powell (59 0ff 35) hit whirlwind half-centuries, while also adding 122 runs in just 52 balls for the third wicket, to put Zimbabwe under the cosh. Unsurprisingly, the African side’s batting unit unravelled under pressure to be skittled out for 147 with more than two overs to spare. The left-arm spin duo of Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein had a field day with the ball picking up four and three wickets, respectively, conceding just 28 runs in their four-over spells.

Out of Motie’s four, two came in the same over, when he came up with absolute peaches off back-to-back deliveries to price out Sikandar Raza and Tashinga Musekiwa. Aided by good turn and bounce from the red soil strip at Wankhede Stadium, Motie tossed one up to the Zimbabwe skipper that pitched on a good length around leg stump. Just as the all-rounder took a long stride and tried to guide it to the on-side, the ball turned viciously to beat his bat and hit the top of off stump.

Losing balance and landing on his right hand, the Zimbabwe all-rounder saw the stumps disturbed before confirming his dismissal with the square leg umpire. Musekiwa’s horrors on the field in the first innings, after dropping Hetmyer twice, multiplied with the bat after getting dismissed off the very next ball for a golden duck.

This time Motie went flatter as the ball came in straight to beat Musekiwa’s willow for another dismissal. Twice in two balls, the left-arm spinner had the off stump disturbed as the Zimbabwe slide was hastened by some pinpoint spin bowling from the Windies.

That was not a replay!