India stayed in the hunt for a semifinal spot at the T20 World Cup with a thumping 72-run victory over Zimbabwe in a crunch game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma teed off in the death overs, featuring in an unbroken stand of 84 off just 31 balls, as India piled up 256/4 after being put in to bat.
It was India's highest ever score in T20 World Cups, going past the 218/4 they made against England at Durban in 2007 -- a match famous for the six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh off Stuart Broad.
Hardik finished off the innings with two successive sixes off Brad Evans, reaching his fifty off the last ball. He was unbeaten on 50 off 23 balls, while Tilak was not out on 44 off 16 balls.
In reply, Zimbabwe made a respectable 184/6, with opener Brian Bennett continuing his fine form in the tournament by batting through the innings to finish on an unbeaten 97 off 59 balls.
Axar Patel made the first breakthrough for India with his second ball, having Tadiwanashe Marumani caught at cover by Ishan Kishan for 20. However, his next over went for 19 as Bennett stepped on the accelerator.
Varun Chakravarthy then removed Dion Myers for six, caught by Tilak Varma at midwicket to leave Zimbabwe at 72/2 in the tenth over.
Bennett and Sikandar Raza, however, took the fight to India with a 72-run partnership in just 41 balls. Shivam Dube bore the brunt, being smashed for 26 in his first over.
Arshdeep Singh finally broke the stand, having Raza caught at long-on by Abhishek Sharma for 31 in 21 balls. Two balls later, he trapped Ryan Burl leg before for a two-ball duck as Zimbabwe slumped to 144/4 in the 17th over.
The only element of suspense remaining was whether Bennett would get to his century but he fell agonisingly short after skipper Suryakumar Yadav brought back Dube for the final over of the innings.
Earlier, Abhishek Sharma opened the innings with Sanju Samson as India decided to go in with a left-right combination.
Samson hit 24 off 15 balls with a four and two sixes before being caught at midwicket by Ryan Burl off Blessing Muzarabani after a 48-run opening stand in just 3.4 overs.
Ishan Kishan then joined Abhishek as India surged to 63/1 at the end of five overs.
After a horror start to the tournament, making three ducks and a score of 15, Abhishek was back at his best, reaching his fifty off just 26 balls.
Ishan also looked in ominous form but fell for 38 off 24 balls, caught by Richard Ngarava off skipper Sikandar Raza, after a 72-run stand for the second wicket.
Abhishek was the next to go, caught by Raza at long-on off Tinotenda Maposa for 55 off 30 balls.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was even more belligerent, hammering 33 off just 13 balls. He was caught at cover by Tashinga Musekiwa off Ngarava.
Hardik and Tilak then went berserk.
India made two changes to the playing XI, with Axar Patel returning in place of Washington Sundar, while Sanju Samson also made a comeback replacing Rinku Singh.
Suryakumar was unfazed after losing the toss, saying he would have batted first anyway.
He also said that Samson will keep wickets instead of Ishan.
The teams:
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (captain), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Tinotenda Maposa, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava