MUMBAI: West Indies in the ongoing T20 World Cup have fared exceptionally well to remain unbeaten so far but captain Shai Hope feels that there is always room for further improvement in the cut-throat global contest.
After winning comfortably their initial three group stage matches — against Scotland, England and Nepal — West Indies outclassed Zimbabwe in their Super Eights match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday night.
West Indies, in the process, finished only six runs shy of Sri Lanka’s all-time ICC T20 World Cup run total record of 260-6 against Zimbabwe. Southpaw Shimron Hetmyer led the charge for West Indies as he blasted a 19-ball half-century on his way to a whopping 85 off 34 balls.
West Indies’ spin attack was just as impressive, suffocating Zimbabwe to snuff out any hope of a miracle run chase, helping the West Indies complete a dominant 107-run win.
But Hope, proud of his batting unit’s superb efforts, is staying firmly grounded. They’re still at least a win away from securing their semi-finals spot and carry belief they can go all the way, having already achieved the ultimate prize in this tournament twice previously.
“When you get 250 plus on the board in a T20 game, then you must be happy as a batting unit,” Hope told reporters after the match.
“And then with the ball being as clinical as we did in that, especially in the middle phase and Powerplay ... I would call it more of a complete game for us but if you want to be picky there’s always areas that you can improve.
“There’s always ways and areas that you can find to improve.”
West Indies’ 254-6 was their highest total in a men’s T20 World Cup but Hope has firmly shut down suggestions they’re ready to spend any time reflecting on that just yet.
“This is the stage of the tournament where you’re more focused on playing your best cricket,” he continued.
“If you do happen to get past those milestones, then you talk about it at the end and guys will congratulate each other. But it’s definitely not at the forefront.
“You never go to bat thinking, OK, I want to score 275 or 350 in a T20 game. It’s just about getting as many runs as you can and putting the opposition under pressure,” he said.
“I think the first question, I just believe the way we’ve been playing, it certainly gives us a lot of confidence. You can’t always say we’ve got to stay in the moment. Yes, we’ve played well to this stage, but again, we’ve got another game in a few days and we’ve got to make sure we turn up on that day again.
“So, great start, great confidence booster. But those games are gone. We’ve got to look ahead now. We’ve got South Africa next, and then India after. So we’ve got to keep playing our best cricket. If we can get better, continue getting better. If we’re doing well, continue doing it.”
Their blockbuster against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Thursday will likely decide who top Group 1 in the Super Eights. The winners will almost certainly clinch a spot in the final four.
Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2026