Zimbabwe shock Australia in first major upset of ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Colombo: The first major upset of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 took place as the Zimbabwe national cricket team defeated the Australia national cricket team by 23 runs.

According to details, in the match played at R. Premadasa Stadium, Australia won the toss and elected to field first against Zimbabwe. In the absence of Mitchell Marsh, the Australian side was led by Travis Head.

Batting first, Zimbabwe set a target of 170 runs for Australia. For Zimbabwe, Marumani scored 35 and Ryan Burl added 35 runs before getting out. Opener Brian Bennett made 64, while captain Sikandar Raza remained unbeaten on 25.

In reply, Australia were bowled out for 146 runs in the 20th over.

For Australia, Matt Renshaw scored 65 and Glenn Maxwell made 31. Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani took four wickets, while Brad Evans claimed three. Notably, eight Australian batters failed to reach double figures.

It is worth mentioning that this was the second match for both teams. In their opening fixtures, Zimbabwe defeated the Oman national cricket team, while Australia beat the Ireland national cricket team.