Zimbabwe smacked a mammoth 344/4 in 20 overs to create a new world record in T20I cricket. It is the highest-ever total in the history of T20 cricket, not just T20Is.
The previous highest T20I (and T20) score was 314/3. Nepal had scaled that score against Mongolia in the 2023 Asian Games in September last year. However, Zimbabwe comfortably went past that record. Zimbabwe created this record in a league encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier Group B against Gambia. This is a qualifying tournament for the Men’s T20 World Cup which will be played in India in 2026.
In fact, this is their second big score in the span of four days. They racked up 286/5 against Seychelles a few days ago. While there were no hundreds in that encounter, Sikandar Raza was the star with the bat against Gambia when they racked up 344.
The Zimbabwe captain smashed 133 off just 43 balls in a knock which comprised of seven fours and 15 sixes. He equaled the second-fastest hundred in T20I history (33 balls) and the fastest among Test-playing nations. There were three other players who notched up half-centuries – Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani and Clive Madande. Apart from Bennett who struck at 192.30, every other batter had a strike-rate in excess of 225.
Another record that Zimbabwe made their own was the most sixes by a team in a T20I innings. They smoked 27 sixes and went past Nepal’s record of 26.
It was only earlier a couple of weeks ago that India almost breached the 300-run mark in the third T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad. They fell three runs short. But that was still the highest total posted by any Test-playing nation but Zimbabwe now own the record.
In the end, Zimbabwe thrashed a hapless Gambia side who were bowled out for 54 and lost by a whopping margin of 290 runs. That is the biggest margin of victpry for any side in the history of T20Is. Nepal held the previous record (which was by 273 runs) when they scored 314 against Mongolia. 172 runs was the record among full-member teams when Sri Lanka (who scored 260) beat Kenya way back in 2007.
HIGHEST TEAM TOTALS IN T20Is
Zimbabwe – 344/4 vs Gambia – Nairobi (October 2024)
Nepal – 314/3 vs Mongolia – Hangzhou (September 2023)
India – 297/6 vs Bangladesh – Hyderabad, (October 2024)
Zimbabwe – 286/5 vs Seychelles – Nairobi (October 2024)
Afghanistan – 278/3 vs Ireland – Dehradun, (February 2019)
