Clinical Zimbabwe stun Australia with historic T20 World Cup upset

By BBC News

COLOMBO: Blessing Muzarabani claimed a career-best 4-17 as Zimbabwe held their nerve to stun Australia with a brilliant 23-run win in the T20 World Cup.

Set the tricky target of 170, Australia had looked in big trouble at 29-4 before Matthew Renshaw and Glenn Maxwell’s 77-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Australia needed 34 runs off the final two overs, but when Renshaw was caught for 65 after he skied the superb Muzarabani with eight balls remaining the game was effectively up.

The result leaves Group B delicately poised after two games apiece, with Australia two points behind Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, who face the Aussies on Monday.

“The culture, environment and unity we’ve created over a long time makes me extremely proud – and on top of that, to win is unbelievable,” said Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza.

“It looked like the boys wanted [to win] and they really deserve it. We don’t need to change anything and it’s a great position, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. So the next game is now the most important one.”

Zimbabwe initially looked to have been guilty of playing too cautiously after they were asked to bat first at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Opener Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 64 off 56 balls featured seven fours but came at a strike rate of 114.28 as he played the anchor role.

Tadiwanashe Marumani and Ryan Burl were decidedly more aggressive with their intent at the crease, both hitting 35 off 21 and 30 balls respectively.

Raza’s unbeaten 13-ball 25 provided some late impetus as he struck their only six off the final ball of the innings.

The chase looked to be comfortably within reach for an Australian side that made 182-6 in their victory over Ireland in the opening game.

However, Muzarabani and Brad Evans (3-23) removed the key wickets of Josh Inglis, Travis Head, Cameron Green and Tim David to leave Australia in a world of trouble.

Renshaw and Maxwell rebuilt but when the latter dragged on to Burl to fall for 31 – one of only three Australia players to make double figures – it piled on the pressure.

Muzarabani then returned to bowl the penultimate over and, after the 6ft 8in pace bowler removed Renshaw, Zimbabwe swiftly administered the coupe de grace.

Chevrons keep cool heads in Colombo

This was only a second meeting between these two sides at a T20 World Cup.

At the inaugural tournament in 2007, Zimbabwe clinched a surprise victory over an Australia side featuring Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee et al at Newlands.

It now reads 2-0 to the Chevrons.

Zimbabwe were courageous in Cape Town that day, but composed and calculating in Colombo just under 18 and a half years later.

Bennett played the percentages, content to nullify Australia’s spinners, and largely eschewed boundary hitting in favour of accumulation as he looked to establish a solid total.

Yet with only two wickets lost there was the unerring sense that Zimbabwe’s approach had been a little timid and they had left some runs out in the middle.

“We discussed that we don’t want to go for 190. If go for 190 now, we are 140 all out,” Raza explained afterwards.

“We’ve seen in Sri Lanka you can lose wickets if you go too hard too early. We sent a message to Brian Bennett that he’s doing a great job, not to panic, and we’ll get to a good score if he stays through.”

Australia’s top order showed a greater runscoring intent early in the chase only to perish to a mixture of poor strokeplay and impressive bowling.

Inglis and David, in particular, were guilty of giving their wickets away – but that should take nothing from Muzarabani, who used his variations intelligently on a slow pitch as he reached 100 wickets in T20 internationals.

Zimbabwe’s exceptional fielding – Clive Madande and Tony Munyonga produced eye-catching stops on the boundary – also played a pivotal role in this victory.

It left Australia with work to do in their final two games but they will not panic according to Head, skippering Australia in the absence of the injured Mitchell Marsh.

“We’ve found ourselves in this position before and found ourselves on the right side of it,” Head said.

“We have a few guys here who were there in India in 2023 [in the 50-over World Cup] and we’ll look to navigate this situation and use that blueprint.”