Zimbabwe shatter world record, smash highest-ever total in T20I

Zimbabwe has shattered the record of most runs in a T20I match in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Sub Regional Qualifier B match against Gambia on Wednesday.

The team chieved the extraordinary feat after scoring 344 runs against Gambia in Match 12 of the competition, thus rewriting history in the T20 format of the game.

The Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza scored an unbeaten 133 off just 43 deliveries, hitting 7 fours and 15 sixes in the process.

Tadiwanashe Marumani (62 off 19), Brian Bennett (50 off 26) and Clive Madande (53 off 17) also played key parts as Zimbabwe posted the record-breaking total in Nairobi.

In reply, Gambia were bowled out for 54 runs, thus Zimbabwe registering a victory by 290 runs.

The impressive score surpassed the previous highest total of 314/3 set by Nepal against Mongolia in 2023.

Earlier this month, Zimbabwe had already entered the top five with a score of 286/5 against Seychelles.

India also made it to the list with a significant total of 297/6 against Bangladesh.

Raza's century marked the first for a Zimbabwean player in men's T20Is.

The win has also taken Zimbabwe through to the regional final of the African World Cup qualifier.

Sikandar Raza and his boys missed out on the T20 World Cup earlier this year by a whisker and they will now be aiming to replicate their excellent vein of form in the final stages of the qualification marathon.

Eight teams will now play out in the regional final and two teams will qualify for the T20 World Cup in 2026.