Australia knocked out of T20 World Cup 2026 as Zimbabwe qualify from Group B
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Australia knocked out of T20 World Cup 2026 as Zimbabwe qualify from Group B")
Australia's Marcus Stoinis Photograph: (AFP)
This marks the first time in T20 World Cup history that Australia have been eliminated before the Super Eight stage.
The crucial T20 World Cup 2026 clash between Ireland and Zimbabwe was washed out at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele on Tuesday (Feb 17). As a result, both teams earned one point each. With this outcome, Zimbabwe secured their place in the Super Eight stage of the tournament, joining India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, England and South Africa. Meanwhile, Australia was knocked out of the tournament, marking the second time in T20 World Cup history that they failed to advance to the next stage.
Australia’s chances of reaching the Super Eight stage were already shaken after they lost to Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Kandy on Monday (Feb 16). Dushan Hemantha took three wickets for 37 runs in his four overs and helped bowl Australia out for 181. During the chase, Pathum Nissanka scored an unbeaten 100 from just 52 balls, leading Sri Lanka to an easy win and securing their place in the Super 8.
Also read - Usman Tariq confident of PAK's Super 8 chances after India drubbing in T20 WC
After the match, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said that his team did not perform well enough and explained that the problem was mainly their execution.
He further added that the team was disappointed but did not want to blame anyone and admitted that they have failed to execute their plans, especially as the pitch became slower later in the match.
“I think it was probably just execution tonight. That full-strength batting lineup has some of the best players of spin in Australia. It was more about execution. Sri Lanka pulled it back beautifully. We were probably a few short after the start. We had great belief going into the second innings, but we were outplayed,” Marsh said at post-match press conference.
“I guess we’ll never know what would have happened if we made 220. We had a good platform but weren’t able to execute towards the back end. It’s disappointing. We’re certainly not here to blame anyone, but we’re a disappointed group. We knew we were going to face spin towards the back end, the pitch slowed up a little bit, but again, it was about execution,” he added.
