T20 WC 2026: Zimbabwe pulls off biggest upset, defeats Australia

Zimbabwe pulled off a massive upset in the T20 World Cup 2026, defeating Australia by 23 runs. Captain Travis Head admitted his side was under pressure but expressed confidence in the team's ability to bounce back, drawing on past experiences.

After a dramatic loss to Zimbabwe in the group stage match in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 at R. Premdasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday, Australia's captain, Travis Head, acknowledged that his side was under pressure after losing early wickets in the power-play. Zimbabwe pulled off the biggest upset of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, defeating the mighty Australia by 23 runs. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Head admitted the loss was disappointing but said they had been in similar situations before, for instance, at the Men's ODI World Cup 2023. Despite the Australian team suffering from injuries, with speedsters Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins out of the tournament, Head expressed confidence in the team's experience and said they would stick to the blueprint to win the remaining two games.

'We've been here before': Travis Head

"The feedback throughout was that it was a good wicket. We put ourselves under pressure, obviously losing wickets in the power play. And like I said, put some pressure, and the scoreboard rate went up. We, I guess, found a partnership through the middle, but probably left ourselves a little bit too many, and that happens," Head said after the match. "So, it's disappointing, but that's the game. We've been here before. We said at the toss a little bit about having injuries and working through tournament play, which is typical. And we're seeing a lot of tight games. All the teams are very good. And yeah, we've found ourselves in this position before. We had a few guys in that dressing room who were here in India in 2023 (WC) that navigated through that, and we ended up on the right side of it. So, we'll go back to the blueprint of that to keep as much confidence in the dressing room as possible and two more games to win," he added.

Group B Standings and What's Next

This is the second time that the African nation has beaten Australia in a T20 World Cup match. The first was when Australia lost their group stage match against Zimbabwe in the 2007 edition. After this win, Zimbabwe moved into second place in Group B, while Australia slipped down to third place with only one win. Sri Lanka is at the top with a couple of wins. Now, Zimbabwe will take on Ireland in their next group-stage match on Tuesday, while Australia will face Sri Lanka on Monday.

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