Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett came agonisingly close to a T20 World Cup century, scoring 97 not out off 59 balls, but India dominated their Super 8 clash, winning by 72 runs at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Brian Bennett on the missing century
Despite falling just three runs short of the milestone, Bennett remained grateful for his innings, which was the lone spark in Zimbabwe’s chase against the defending champions
"Yeah, it would have been nice. Cricket is just like that sometimes. I'm not always going to get to that landmark. Just grateful for today, to get out there and put on a good innings, but couldn’t get over the line... 250 (257) was going to be a tough one to win,” the 22-year-old told reporters.
Bennett also spoke about guiding his teammates during the chase: “I just told them when they came in, listen, if you see the ball, just hit the ball. Don't worry about what I want, don't worry about me, just you do your thing and then that's what the conversations are about.”
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Bennett on facing Jasprit Bumrah
Facing India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the first time, Bennett brought up his fifty with a six over long-on.
"He (Bumrah) was always going to be a tough one to face, (it was my) first time facing him. (He is) a top class, world class bowler. My thought process was just watch the ball as close as I can and just let my body do the action. The ball was in my zone and I just hit it,” he said.
Bennett on Zimbabwe's chase vs India
Reflecting on the enormity of the chase, Bennett admitted the task was always going to be steep.
“Chasing 250-260 is going to be very tough. The chance to just go out there and express yourself, don't worry too much about the scoreboard, just be you, play to your strengths and if it comes off, it comes off, if it doesn’t it doesn’t - and today it didn't come off like we wanted, but 250 is always going to be a tough one to chase.”
Bennett on Zimbabwe performance
Despite the defeat, Bennett remained positive about Zimbabwe’s maiden Super 8 appearance.
“It's the first time us as Zimbabwe has qualified to the Super 8s so obviously there's been a lot of highs in tournaments so far, and for that we're grateful. We've got one more game against South Africa, we're going to try and learn as much as possible. We've learnt a lot from the last two games against West Indies and India today. So now it's mainly just about learning and looking where we can improve as a team and as individuals as well. "It's not disappointing past two games, but there's a lot of learning that's been done and hopefully it will bear out in the future.”
Bennett becomes only the second batter in the world after Chris Gayle to score 90+ runs in a T20 World Cup match against India. However, Zimbabwe are out of the T20 World Cup 2026 after losing aganist India at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.