Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka to finish top of Group B

Men’s T20 World Cup, Group B, Colombo

Sri Lanka 178-7 (20 overs): Nissanka 62 (41)

Zimbabwe 182-4 (19.3 overs): Bennett 63* (48), Raza 45 (26)

Zimbabwe won by six wickets

Zimbabwe finished top of Group B at the T20 World Cup after stunning England’s next opponents Sri Lanka in a six-wicket victory in Colombo.

Both sides were already guaranteed their place in the Super 8s but Zimbabwe, who did not qualify for the last T20 World Cup in 2024, progress unbeaten after completing a fine chase of 179 with three balls to spare.

Opener Brian Bennett, who is yet to be dismissed in the tournament, followed his score of 64 not out in the famous win over Australia last week with an unbeaten 63 to steer home the chase.

He shared an opening stand of 69 with Tadiwanashe Marumani and, after Marumani fell for 34 and Ryan Burl 23, played the anchor role as captain Sikander Raza struck 45 from just 26 balls.

Raza and Tashinga Musekiwa fell in the penultimate over but, with eight runs needed from the last, Tony Munyonga emerged and hit a six before Bennett drove the winning runs through the covers.

Co-hosts Sri Lanka, who play England in both sides’ Super 8s opener in Pallekele on Sunday, dropped catches and leaked boundaries with misfields.

They were without injured bowler Matheesha Pathirana and fellow seamer Dushmantha Chameera, who was resting.

Pathum Nissanka, who also scored a fine century in Sri Lanka’s win over Australia, continued his form with 62 from 44 balls in his side’s 178-7.

Zimbabwe progress into a Super 8s group with co-hosts India, South Africa and West Indies.

Men’s T20 World Cup, Group C, Kolkata

West Indies 165-6 (20 overs): Hope 75 (46); Kalugamage 2-25

Italy 123 all out (18.0 overs): B Manenti 26 (21); Forde 3-19, Joseph 4-30

West Indies won by 42 runs

Shamar Joseph became the first player to take four catches and four wickets in a single T20 international as his side beat Italy by 42 runs.

Having already secured Super 8s qualification, the two-time champions completed a perfect group-stage record of four wins from four at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Italy won the toss and chose to bowl, making a positive start by dismissing opener Brandon King and the big-hitting Shimron Hetmyer cheaply inside the first five overs.

Windies captain Shai Hope helped lead his side to a competitive total, compiling a second successive fifty before he was bowled by Crishan Kalugamage for 75 off 46 balls, including six fours and four sixes.

Roston Chase and Sherfane Rutherford both added 24 as West Indies posted 165-6. Kalugamage was the best of Italy’s bowlers, finishing with 2-25 off his four overs.

Italy struggled to make any sort of a dent in their run chase, slipping to 37-3 after the powerplay.

Jon-Jon Smuts (24) and Ben Manenti (26) were the only batters to pass 20 for the Italians, who beat Nepal to claim their first-ever T20 World Cup win earlier in the tournament.