T20 World Cup 2026 upset: Muzarabani’s pace, Bennett’s composure, and Evans’ impact script Zimbabwe’s memorable win over Australia.
After Zimbabwe’s opening victory of the T20 World Cup 2026 against Oman, their captain, Sikandar Raza, made it clear that they would not just go with the motion in this competition. Four days later, his message of ‘bravery, courage, and clarity’ carried Zimbabwe to their second successive victory in the T20 WCs against Australia.
With a strong net run rate of +1.984 and Ireland to face in one of the last two group-stage clashes, Zimbabwe believe they can qualify for the Super 8. And this 23-run victory over the Travis Head-led side has boosted their chances to spoil the ICC’s pre-seeding groups. Throughout the 40 overs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, they didn’t drop the intensity at any moment.
Australia took the gamble of chasing at the R. Premadasa Stadium in the morning game. As Raza mentioned at the toss, the pitch slowed down in the afternoon. And the Chevrons kept bagging regular wickets to earn the 23-run win.
Read More: Blessing Muzarabani reinforces his status as Zimbabwe’s MVP
Let’s take a look at the architects of Zimbabwe’s win over Australia in T20 WC 2026
Brian Bennett’s old-school knock of 64* gives Zimbabwe stability
It was an old-school approach from Zimbabwe’s right-handed opener, Brian Bennett. He played the entire 20 overs and still had a strike rate well below 120. But his presence in the middle gave them stability at one end, pushing the other batters to play their aggressive shots.
Bennett was incredibly slow to start, with five runs in 12 balls. The pressure was massive on his shoulder, but he didn’t lose his wicket. The right-handed batter greeted Matthew Kuhnemann’s opening over with two boundaries over the mid-wicket region. Till the 14th over after the end of the power play, Bennett didn’t get a single boundary. But he kept pushing for the doubles to tire the Australia fielders in humid conditions.
The 2021 T20 WC champions didn’t allow the run-rate to cross nine for most of the 20 overs, but they tried various things to pick wickets. Once Adam Zampa went a fraction short, Bennett rocked back and cut it into the gap past the point for a boundary. The youngster celebrated his maiden T20 WC fifty in 43 deliveries.
Even though he managed only 64 runs in 56 balls, Zimbabwe never felt the pressure of hurrying in the middle. Reflecting on Australia’s innings, Bennett’s contribution proved to be a blessing for the Chevrons.
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Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans’ combined 7-40 blow away Australia
Zimbabwe’s 169-2 became the third-highest T20I team score while batting first at the R. Premadasa Stadium since the beginning of 2024. That meant Australia were on the backfoot even before the start of the chase. And once they lost four wickets inside the power play, they found themselves behind the eight ball.
Blessing Muzarabani, fresh from his Player of the Match award against Oman with 3-16 in four overs, started from where he left off. On his very first ball of the spell against Australia, the lanky pacer drew the first blood with the wicket of Josh Inglis. The wicket-keeper batter couldn’t control the bounce as his mistimed pull shot ended up in the hands of the deep square leg region.
In his second over, Muzarabani claimed another massive wicket of Tim David. The short length delivery again played the trick as the Singapore-born was caught at short fine.
In between those overs, Brad Evans found the outside edge of Cameron Green, whose cut shot ended up in the hands of the Zimbabwe wicket-keeper. Once he caged the big fish, Travis Head, the joy reflected the emotions of the side. The South Australia batter got a thick inside edge onto the pads, but unfortunately, it rolled back onto his stumps.
Evans, who is the fifth T20I leading wicket-taker (36) among Test-playing nations since January 2025, finished with 3-23. Meanwhile, Muzarabani, becoming only the third Zimbabwe bowler to complete 100 T20I wickets, bagged 4-17 in his four overs.
Read More: Message from Day 1 of T20 World Cup 2026: Associates can’t be taken lightly
Tadiwanashe Marumani and Sikandar Raza contributed vital knocks
Zimbabwe would have struggled massively in the power play had Tadiwanashe Marumani not bailed them out of trouble with some aggressive shots. After collecting two consecutive boundaries against Ben Dwarshuis, Marumani swept and reverse-swept Glenn Maxwell for three boundaries in the fourth over.
The left-handed batter also put early pressure on Zampa by pulling the short ball behind the square region for a phenomenal boundary. His 35 runs in 21 balls, shouldering on seven boundaries, took the pressure off Bennett at the other end.
After 16 overs, Zimbabwe were 131-2 as Sikandar Raza made his way into the middle. The very next over of Nathan Ellis gave them only four singles. The pressure mounted as Raza clubbed Dwarshuis for two boundaries in the 18th over. The veteran grabbed the momentum in their favour with the last-ball six against Ellis, whom Raza timed over the deep backward square leg region.
Even in the field, his leadership was excellent. Despite picking up cramps and not being able to stand, he pushed himself and stayed at the boundary line to cheer up the players. This would be the time for Zimbabwe cricket to stand again. They can’t let this opportunity slip.
Zimbabwe’s next encounter of the campaign will be against Ireland at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on February 17. They will return to the R. Premadasa Stadium for the final group-stage clash on February 19 against Sri Lanka.
Top Twitter Reactions from ZIM vs AUS, Group B, T20 World Cup 2026
This is clinical from Zim.
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) February 13, 2026
Batting and bowling have been great but Tony Munyonga’s fielding has piled on the pressure.
He has saved at least 12-15 runs and closes the deal with a spectacular catch at deep mid wicket.🔥🔥
When the ground sizes are proper, cricketing skills truly…
A statement win from Zimbabwe! 🇿🇼
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 13, 2026
Beating Australia by 23 runs takes real character. And of course, Blessing turned out to be just that, a blessing in the truest sense, with a superb 4 wicket spell.
What an exciting tournament this is shaping up to be!
This is turning out to be a sensational tournament. The less heralded nations are playing a beautiful tune. #ICCMensT20WorldCup
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 13, 2026
For years, Australia have undermined T20 cricket, with key players skipping bilateral matches and underplaying the importance of the World Cup too. Their loss to Zimbabwe is hence unsurprising. The fact that they still won the WC in 2021 shows the quality in their ranks #AUSvsZIM
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal09) February 13, 2026
Rare to see Aussies upstaged in all aspects in any format. Zimbabwe did that with aplomb. Aus now under pressure in this group to make the cut for Super 8s
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 13, 2026
Read More: Best openers in T20 WC 2026: Abhishek-Ishan/Buttler-Salt/Seifert-Allen/Markram-De Kock/Head-Inglis?
