Zimbabwe outplay Australia in big upset of T20 World Cup

2026-02-13 - 09:56

Zimbabwe stunned the world with a 23-run upset over favourites Australia in a Group B match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Colombo on Friday. Chasing a challenging 170-run target for victory, Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 146 in 19.3 overs. Matt Renshaw was Australia’s highest scorer with 65 off 44 balls, hitting five fours and one six. Glenn Maxwell contributed 31 off 32 balls, laced with one four and one maximum. Skipper Travis Head made 17 off 15 balls with the help of three boundaries. No other batter could enter the double figures. Player of the match Blessing Muzarabani bagged four wickets, Brad Evans three, and Wellington Masakadza and Ryan Burl one each, while Matthew Kulnemann was run out. Batting first, Zimbabwe posted a decent 169/2 total on the board in their allocated quota of 20 overs. Opener Brian Bennett was the top scorer with an unbeaten 64 off 56 balls, hitting seven boundaries. Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani contributed 35 runs each, while skipper Sikandar Raza made an unbeaten 25 off just 13 balls to help the side reach a competitive total on a sluggish wicket. Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green picked up one wicket each. Pakistan beat USA by 32 runs in T20 World Cup match