T20 World Cup 2026: How Zimbabwe Can Knock Out 'Mighty' Australia To Qualify For Super Eight Stage?

T20 World Cup 2026: The Zimbabwe Cricket Team is on the verge of creating history as they will face Ireland in an effort to reach the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup 2026 on Tuesday. The Sikandar Raza-led side has secured back-to-back wins in the group stage, with one of them being against Australia, which was arguably the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

However, Zimbabwe has a chance to hurt the Mitchell Marsh-led side even more if they secure a win over Ireland in their upcoming fixture at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Australia's Fate Not In Their Hands Anymore

Australia have been jolted by successive losses in the tournament. Their latest loss against Sri Lanka has made matters worse for them as they can reach four points only with one match remaining, while Zimbabwe can reach a maximum of eight points with two matches remaining for them in the group stage. A victory against Ireland or Sri Lanka will help them qualify, knocking out Australia.

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Australia will be rallying behind the Irish as a win over Zimbabwe will keep their hopes alive in the tournament.

Notably, they are missing the services of some of their key players, who have been ruled out of the tournament due to injuries.

We Were Outplayed: Marsh

Australian captain Mitchell Marsh believed 181 was a competitive total though Sri Lanka were home with two overs to spare. He agreed that his team was outplayed on the night.

"I thought it was a competitive total. We probably left ourselves a few short after the start we had. Well played to Sri Lanka, they outplayed us tonight. We know that at our best we can make big scores. We just lost our way towards the back end.

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"Sri Lanka bowled really well towards the back end. We knew we were a few short. Not much else to say except that SL outplayed us. We're in the lap of the dogs now I think. Lot of emotions in the room right now. Haven;t been at our best. Disappointed bunch at the moment," Marsh said.

Inputs from Agency