Zimbabwe registered the biggest upset of the 2026 T20 World Cup as they defeated former champions Australia by 23 runs in Colombo on Friday.
Zimbabwe posted an above par score of 169-2 on a sluggish surface at the R Premadasa Stadium, aided by a sedate 69 off 54 balls from opener Brian Bennett who carried his bat.
In reply, the Aussies were bundled out for 146 in the final over, with fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani finishing with match-wining figures of 4-17.
Zimbabwe thus maintained an incredible record against Australia – they have won both their T20 World Cup matches against the heavyweights of cricket.
The African side has played a total of four T20 matches against Australia, with two of those matches at the World Cup. Zimbabwe stunned a star-studded Australian side in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 – winning by five wickets chasing 139 in Cape Town – and two decades later have repeated the feat.
Left-handed batter Matt Renshaw waged a lone battle on an pitch that became slower as the game progressed. He made 65 from 44 balls but with only two other Aussie batters reaching double figures, Zimbabwe maintained the upper hand throughout the second innings.
Australia captain Travis Head admitted his team failed to read the conditions correctly, but refused to blame a growing list of injuries for their struggles on the pitch.
“We've been there before. We saw it in 2023 with a few defeats and injuries. We have a few guys here who were there in India in 2023 and we'll look to navigate this situation and use that blueprint,” Head said, referring to the ODI World Cup in India where Australia were on the brink of an early exit against Afghanistan before fighting back to lift the title.
Batting first, Zimbabwe reached 47 for no loss in six overs after being asked to bat. Australia's stand-in skipper Head brought Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann and Glenn Maxwell into the attack but his side failed to stop the flow of runs.
Bennett guided the team past the 100-run mark in the 13th over and brought up his half-century while stitching together a 70-run partnership with Ryan Burl. Australia were left sweating when Stoinis walked off after being hit on his hand while attempting to stop a shot by Burl, who departed for 35 on the next ball bowled by Cameron Green.
Australia tightened things up through Zampa and Nathan Ellis, but Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza (25 not out) took his team to 169-2 with the first six of the innings on the final ball.
In reply, Australia lost four wickets inside five overs. Maxwell departed for 31 to leave them at 106-5. Renshaw attempted to steady the ship but Zimbabwe's bowlers, led by Muzarabani, made great use of variations to stop the Aussies from gaining any momentum.
