Bharat: Australia were outplayed in every aspect by Zimbabwe

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Australia has been on the receiving end of an upset win in the group stage of the T20 World Cup.

The 2021 champions have been defeated by Zimbabwe by 23 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Having sent Zimbabwe into bat after winning the toss, the African country managed to make a handy 169 runs with the loss of two wickets, with plenty of boundaries throughout.

Opening batsman Brian Bennett would lead the way for Zimbabwe throughout the innings, having scored 64 runs off 56 balls without losing his wicket.

Alongside batting partners Tadiwanashe Marumani and Ryan Burl, he would build 60+ run partnerships, helping build the foundation of their innings.

Having to chase 170 runs, Australia began the chase in front of Zimbabwe’s total with Josh Inglis and Travis Head getting off to a solid start in the first over.

But four wickets in the powerplay with only 29 runs would quickly see them fall behind the total with pacemen Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans forming a powerful duo during the first six overs.

Glenn Maxwell and Matt Renshaw would then put on a partnership of 77 runs off 59 balls throughout the middle overs to try and get Australia close enough to victory.

But once Maxwell was bowled for 31 runs in the 15th over, it left the Aussies needing 64 runs off the last 34 balls.

But the loss of five wickets for 40 runs would see the Aussies all out for 146 with three balls remaining.

Reacting to the result as soon as it happened, SEN Cricket's Bharat Sundaresan noted that this was a well deserved victory for Zimbabwe.

"Australia (is still) yet to beat Zimbabwe in a T20 World Cup game," he said.

"19 years after Brendan Taylor flicked a ball off Nathan Bracken down to fine leg for four to pull off what was then a massive upset.

"This feels much more comprehensive.

"Zimbabwe outplayed Australia with the bat; they only lost two wickets in 20 overs. They've outplayed them with the ball; Muzarabani and Brad Evans were spectacular, and they've outplayed them in the field.

"And this has pushed Australia's hopes of continuing in this tournament into turmoil."

In the end, Zimbabwe's continual boundaries (20 fours to Australia's 11) would help find additional runs where others couldn't.

Australia will have four days to recover from this loss before they take on co-hosts Sri Lanka on Tuesday morning (AEDT) in Kandy.

They’ll need to win to keep their hopes alive of making it into the Super Eight stage.

SEN will continue to have live coverage throughout the tournament on our radio network and on the SEN app with the next broadcast being between arch rivals India and Pakistan from midnight on Monday (AEDT).