Zimbabwe post a total of 344/4 against Gambia breaking Nepal’s record of the most runs in single T20I innings and the second 300+ total.
Gambia ranked 95th in the T20I rankings were clear favorites to lose the match but the critics hadn’t expected such an abysmal bowling display. The Gambian bowling lineup conceded a grand total of 30 fours and 27 sixes as they were completely smashed out of the park by the Zimbabwean batsmen but were rather disciplined bowling only 9 extras.
The bowling collectively conceded bulk of runs but Musa Jobarteh was the major culprit conceding 93 runs in his 4 overs taking away the record of ‘Most runs conceded in T20Is’ from Kasun Rajitha of Sri Lanka who previously conceded 75 runs from his 4 overs. The remaining 4 bowlers each conceded more than 50 runs in their spell with the Gambian skipper Ismaila Tamba being the only exception conceding 24 runs from his 1 over.
On the batting front, Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza equalled Nicole Loftie-Eaton’s joint-second fastest T20I century after he blistered past the 100 runs mark in just 33 balls with a six. He finished the match on 133* off 43 balls with 15 sixes and 7 fours with a strike rate of 309.3. He also overtook Finch’s 14 sixes in one innings and joined Kukikhel of Hungary who had previously hit 15 sixes against Austria becoming the third most six hitter in an innings in T20Is.
Not only by an individual player, Zimbabwe have now also overtaken Nepal’s previous record of 26 sixes against Mongolia as they hit 27 sixes with every batter having hit atleast one six. India who recently posted 297 runs against Bangladesh have also been stripped off their record of highest T20I total by a full member nation.