Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons is expecting India to come hard at them in Chennai on Thursday (February 26), but he expressed confidence in his team’s ability to fight back after a heavy loss to the West Indies in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 clash in Mumbai.

Having suffered a 76-run thrashing at the hands of South Africa in Ahmedabad, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian side is facing a must-win situation in their remaining Super 8 fixtures to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe succumbed to a crushing 107-run defeat against the Caribbean outfit after getting the better of Australia and Sri Lanka in the group stage.

"We know the way India is going to come out and it's going to be very similar to the way West Indies approached their innings. They're (India) not going to hold back," Sammons said after the West Indies match.

"There will be good learnings from that and how we deal with that, under pressure in the moment, how do we stay calm and just think on our feet and also just try and change things up a little bit, disrupt the rhythm of the batters," he added.

West Indies rode on Shimron Hetmyer's stunning knock of 85 off 34 balls to post the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history, piling up 254/6 in 20 overs. Rovman Powell (59 off 35) and Sherfane Rutherford (31* off 13) also made significant contributions with the bat.

With the ball, the two-time champions bundled Zimbabwe out for 147 in 17.4 overs. Gudakesh Motie claimed four wickets, while Akeal Hosein returned with three scalps.

Reflecting on the dismal performance, the Zimbabwe coach said his side, especially the bowling unit, was guilty of being "predictable".

"...we can be a little bit smarter in that regard. Chennai will be a bit bigger (ground) and it probably will be a little bit more at ease in that aspect there," he remarked.

(With PTI Inputs)