West Indies to face India, South Africa, Zimbabwe in the Super Eights

The West Indies are set to play against India, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup’s Super Eight phase regardless of how tomorrow’s match-up against Italy plays out.

Heading into the tournament, the West Indies were pre-seeded as the second-ranked team in their group. As a result, they will retain their seeding for the Super Eights regardless of which team tops their group.

The Caribbean side will begin this stage on February 23 against Zimbabwe at the Wankhede Stadium, followed by South Africa in Ahmedabad on February 26 before concluding the Super Eight stage against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 1.

The second round of the tournament will feature two groups of four teams competing in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will then advance to the knockout stage.

Shimron Hetmyer has emerged as the team’s top performer with the bat to date, amassing 133 runs in three innings at an impressive average of 66.50.

The West Indies have found several match winners in the previous encounters — a 35-run win to open against Scotland, a 30-run trapling of England, and the nine-wicket hammering of Nepal.

Hetmyer led the way with a blistering half-century of 64 against Scotland to secure a 35-run win in their first game.

Romario Shepherd bagged his second international hat-trick in four months to reduce Scotland and close out the win, which kick-started the campaign.

In the team’s second encounter against England, Sherfane Rutherford blasted a career-best 74 from 42 balls to lift the team to a comfortable 30-run win over the arch-rivals. Gudakesh Motie also spun a web with 3 for 33 to secure the crucial points ahead of the Nepal clash.

Captain Shai Hope emphasised the team’s focus on maintaining momentum while keeping sight of the ultimate goal.

“When we got on the plane to come here, that was the first step, and we all want to lift the trophy, but there is a process to get there by playing our best cricket and peaking at the right time and growing as a strong unit.” Hope said.

The West Indies will take on Italy in their final group game on Thursday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.