Brian Bennett, Blessing Muzarabani help Zimbabwe SHOCK former champions Australia

Sikandar Raza’s Zimbabwe side have defeated powerhouse Australia by 23 runs in their second Group B match at the T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo on Friday.

Australia vs Zimbabwe ICC T20 World Cup 2026: For the second game running Blessing Muzarabani was at his destructive best, sending former champions Australia hurtling to a shocking 23-run defeat in a Group B match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday. Chasing 170 to win, Australia were rocked immediately by Muzarabani and Brad Evans at the top as Cameron Green and Tim David, returning from injury, were both dismissed for a duck as Travis Head-led side collapsed to 29 for 4.

It was Zimbabwe’s first win over Australia in the T20 World Cup after their stunning win in inaugural edition in 2007. Australia were bundled out for only 146 with the fiery Muzarabani claiming 4/17 while Brad Evans picked up 3/23.

Dream start for Zimbabwe! 3 Down for AUS
Muzarabani bangs it in short and angles it across — David looks to pull but spoons it to short fine leg!
A massive wicket early on and Zimbabwe are up and running in style!
ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | #AUSvZIM | LIVE NOW … pic.twitter.com/04DkGZl16M
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 13, 2026

Both Australia and Zimbabwe were hit with injuries before the clash. Zimbabwe veteran Brendan Taylor, who was hero of his side’s 2007 win over Australia, has been ruled out of the tournament just before the start of their second Group A. ICC have approved Ben Curran to join the squad as replacement of Taylor.

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“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has approved Ben Curran as a replacement for Brendan Taylor in the Zimbabwe squad. Curran was named as a replacement when Taylor was ruled out after sustaining a right hamstring injury during the match against Oman on 9 February,” ICC statement read.

Australia’s injury list is much longer with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood already out of the tournament and their skipper Mitchell Marsh also sitting on the sidelines, after taking a painful blow on the groin before their opening game against Ireland earlier this week.

(More to come)

For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/

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