Zimbabwe were devastated in the ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup on Friday (February 13) as they wrote history by defeating the mighty Australia by 23 runs in their Group B match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Zimbabwe pulls off first upset of 2026 T20 World Cup by beating Australia by 23 runs

With this wonderful victory in Colombo, Zimbabwe became the only team in the history of the T20 World Cup to maintain a 100% perfect record against Australia in the tournament. The Kangaroos faltered in their pursuit of 170 against Zimbabwe and Blessings Muzarabani was the main spoiler of the upset.

Earlier, Zimbabwe showed no fear of the bats. Brian Bennett shot a solid 64 not out. Tadiwanashe Marumani provided solid support with 35 points. Raza added late firepower with a quick 25 points. Zimbabwe posted a strong score of 169/2 in 20 overs. Then the real storm came.

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Muzarabani cast a spell for the ages. He disrupted Australia’s top order with his pace, bounce and control. He ended up scoring just 17 runs with 4 wickets. Each wicket pushed Australia deeper under pressure. Matt Renshaw fought hard to shoot a 65.

Glenn Maxwell tried to fight back with 31 points. But the rest of the batting failed and Australia lost by 146 runs in 19.3 overs. This is not just a victory, it is a statement for Zimbabwe. Group B action is now in full swing, with the Super 8 action getting even more intense after this dramatic match.

Travis Head frustrated as he explains shock defeat against Zimbabwe

After the embarrassing defeat, Australia’s stand-in captain Travis Head said they felt the batting on the pitch was good but they failed to make the right call. Initially, the wicket was a bit sticky and the ball didn’t fly to the bat very well initially. Hyde said they thought the pitch would remain the same throughout the game, but that didn’t happen.

Despite losing the match, Hyde still felt that Zimbabwe had not scored many runs and the total could be chased, accusing his batsmen of not putting in the effort required by Colombo. He even admitted that the pitch got better during the chase but his batsmen failed to chase down 170 runs.

Travis Hyde said in his postgame remarks: “It was a lot of pressure in the first half. Oh, well, they played well. I think, like I said, I still feel like if you gave us that score after winning the toss and applied it, I think we would have taken the score. So, I don’t think, you look back, there was nothing here or there that we could have done differently or changed direction, but I felt like we handled it well and we got the score that we’ll be happy to chase.”

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Can the 2023 ODI World Cup blueprint come to the rescue? Head sends a strong message

The Australia captain reiterated that the pitch was good but what cost them was the loss of wickets in the powerplay; as a result the pressure mounted and scoring became difficult. Hyde admitted the loss was difficult to digest but in such an important game tough situations happen.

He reminded everyone to pay attention to the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. At that time, the Australian team was also out injured and was in a difficult situation, but they eventually won the championship against India in Ahmedabad. He said they know how to stay confident and fight back.

Head concluded by saying, “So, it’s disappointing, but that’s the game. Yes, we’ve been in situations like this before. We had a couple of guys in the dressing room who had a hard time with India in the 2023 ODI World Cup and we ended up on the right side. So, we’re going to go back to the blueprint and keep as much confidence in the dressing room as possible and win two more games.”