Zimbabwe caused a major upset in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 on Friday (February 13) as they defeated R.K. Colombo in Colombo. Created history by defeating mighty Australia by 23 runs in their Group B match at the Premadasa Stadium.
Zimbabwe causes first upset in T20 World Cup 2026 by defeating Australia by 23 runs
With this spectacular win in Colombo, Zimbabwe has become the only team in T20 World Cup history to maintain a perfect 100% win record against Australia in the tournament. The Kangaroos faltered while chasing 170 against Zimbabwe and Blessing Muzarabani was the main destroyer of the upset.
Before this, Zimbabwe showed no fear with the bat. Brian Bennett led the innings by scoring an unbeaten 64 runs. Tadivanashe Marumani provided solid support by scoring 35 runs. Raza played a quick inning of 25 runs. Zimbabwe posted a strong score of 169/2 in 20 overs. And then came the real storm.
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Muzarabani gave a mantra for the ages. He bowled with pace, bounce and control to demolish Australia’s top order. He took four wickets for just 17 runs. Every wicket put Australia under more pressure. Matt Renshaw fought hard scoring 65 runs.
Glenn Maxwell tried to counterattack by scoring 31 runs, but the rest of the batting collapsed and Australia were bowled out for 146 runs in 19.3 overs. It was not just a victory but a statement from Zimbabwe. Group B is now fully open, and the race for the Super 8s has become intense after the dramatic game.
Travis Head leaves disappointed as he reflects on shock defeat against Zimbabwe
After the embarrassing defeat, Australia’s stand-in captain Travis Head said that he thought the pitch was good for batting, but he failed to make the right decisions. The wicket was a bit sticky in the beginning and the ball was not hitting the bat well at first. Head told that he thought that the pitch would remain the same throughout the match, but it did not happen.
Despite the defeat, Head still felt that Zimbabwe did not score very big runs and that the total could have been chased, he hit out at his batsmen for not applying themselves to the demands in Colombo. He also admitted that even though the pitch had improved during the chase, his batsmen still failed to chase 170.
Travis Head said in the post-match presentation, “The first half was under pressure. Oh, okay, they played well. I thought, as I said, I still feel like if you gave us that score after we won the toss and executed, I think we would have taken that score. So, I don’t think, you look back and there’s nothing here or there you can do differently or change, but I felt like we got through it well. And we were on a score we would have been happy with.”
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2023 ODI World Cup blueprint to the rescue? Head sends a strong message
The Australian captain has once again reiterated that the pitch was good, but they had to bear the brunt of losing wickets in the powerplay; As a result, the pressure increased and scoring became difficult. Head admitted that this defeat is difficult to digest, but there are difficult situations in such big tournaments.
He reminded everyone of the ODI World Cup to be held in India in 2023. Even at that time, Australia was injured and in a troubled situation, yet they won the title against India in Ahmedabad. He said that they know how to stay confident and fight back.
“So, it’s disappointing, but that’s the game. And yes, we have found ourselves in this situation before. We had a few guys in our dressing room who were in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, and we were on the right side of it. So, we will go back to the blueprint to maintain as much confidence as possible in the dressing room and win two more games,” Head said.
