Key events
WICKET! Burl c Bartlett (sub) b Green 35 (Zimbabwe 131-2)
Chaos in Colombo as Burl smacks a low full toss straight back at Marcus Stoinis and the bowler quickly gets a hand to the ball. The allrounder saves four runs but flicks his hand in pain and is soon forced from the field with a finger injury. Cameron Green takes over to bowl out the over and Burl can’t resist a shorter ball. A a top edge takes it to the sub fielder in the deep.
16th over: Zimbabwe 131-2 (Bennett 51, Raza 0)
15th over: Zimbabwe 125-1 (Bennett 50, Burl 30) Zimbabwe continue on their merry way after drinks and Bennett brings up a T20 World Cup half-century against Australia at the age of 22. He brings up the milestone from 43 balls with six boundaries.
14th over: Zimbabwe 118-1 (Bennett 45, Burl 28) Ben Dwarshuis returns for the first time since the opening overs as spin is failing to put the clamps on the Zimbabwe batters. Bennett steps forward and hammers an over-pitched delivery over a gap wide of mid-off and to the rope. A slower ball has Burl in all sorts and sails over his head for a wide much to the frustration of the bowler. Australia are out to limit the damage more than threatening to take wickets at the moment.
13th over: Zimbabwe 106-1 (Bennett 36, Burl 26) Zimbabwe bring up triple figures as Burl flicks through midwicket then casually flips his legs around and swipes a reverse hoick through point to the rope. The veteran is in sublime touch and his side can start dreaming of setting Australia a more-than-challenging chase.
12th over: Zimbabwe 99-1 (Bennett 35, Burl 20) Nathan Ellis returns and digs in a shorter ball but Burl picks it early and pulls it away for four through square leg. The left-hander barely moves his feet as he smacks a slower ball pitched wide outside off-stump back past Ellis and to the rope. Ellis fires up over a wide call that replays show was spot on then comes charging in around the wicket without finding a way to trouble Burt. It can’t be long until Zimbabwe start to take a few risks with plenty of wickets in hand and the pitch giving the bowlers little assistance.
11th over: Zimbabwe 87-1 (Bennett 35, Burl 9) Kuhnemann is back into the attack but can’t stop the flow of ones and twos as Zimbabwe take eight from the over. Burl gets down on one knee and has to reach far outside his off-stump to tennis bat a shot back over the head and into a gap.
10th over: Zimbabwe 79-1 (Bennett 33, Burl 3) Cameron Green takes the ball for the first time as Australia show their full complement of allrounders and a seventh bowler in the innings. Bennett and Burl both handle the towering Green with ease until the latter swipes at a ball travelling at hip height down leg. Green appeals immediately but Inglis takes a moment to join in the excitement. The keeper might have been better keeping his powder dry as Australia waste a second review.
9th over: Zimbabwe 72-1 (Bennett 31, Burl 2) Adam Zampa continues as Australia look to turn the screw after their first dismissal. The Zimbabwe pair seem to be content with consolidating the innings for a period after the loss of Marumani as they settle for risk-free twos to mid-on and through point, and a couple of singles.
8th over: Zimbabwe 66-1 (Bennett 26, Burl 1) Marcus Stoinis gets the breakthrough with some clever bowling, first getting Marumani to cut away from his body then cramping up the opener with one that stayed a touch straighter. That is Zimbabwe’s second 50-run opening partnership in T20 World Cups though batting is starting to look trickier.
WICKET! Marumani c Inglis b Stoinis 35 (Zimbabwe 61-1)
The Zimbabwe opener’s entertaining knock ends with a thick edge off a ball that is moving away but still stays a touch too close to his body. Marumani’s 35 came from 21 balls with seven boundaries to put his side in a strong position.
7th over: Zimbabwe 57-0 (Bennett 24, Marumani 31) Australia call on their spinning trump card in Adam Zampa but Bennett has no time for World Cup reputations as he brings up the 50-run partnership as he leans into a drive through the covers. Zampa troubles Marumani with a quicker ball but the left-hander finds the boundary again – his sixth of the innings – with a pull through square leg.
6th over: Zimbabwe 47-0 (Bennett 19, Marumani 26) Nathan Ellis is just the bowler for the occasion with the wicket giving the Australians little assistance and the Zimbabwe openers off to a flyer. But Bennett is and up running now as the young right-hander hammers Ellis for four through cover. Marumani only just picks up Ellis’s trademark slower ball to block it out of the danger zone, then scoops a fuller ball skyward and barely wide of Matt Renshaw on the rope at deep fine leg.
5th over: Zimbabwe 40-0 (Bennett 14, Marumani 24) Travis Head keeps swinging the changes with the ball as Matt Kuhnemann makes it four bowlers in five overs. The left-arm spinner gives his first ball plenty of flight but Bennett picks it early and sends it back over Kuhnemann’s head for four. The Australian bounces back with three dot balls until Bennett targets midwicket for another boundary. The Zimbabwe openers have set a strong platform with both batters looking comfortable.
4th over: Zimbabwe 31-0 (Bennett 5, Marumani 24) Glenn Maxwell comes into the attack and Marumani is intent on blasting him back out. A reverse sweep off the opening delivery races away behind point and to the rope, and Marumani pulls out much the same shot for another boundary later in the over. A traditional sweep ends with the same result as Zimbabwe take 14 runs from the over without taking too many risks.
3rd over: Zimbabwe 17-0 (Bennett 4, Marumani 11) Tadiwanashe Marumani smacks the first boundary of the innings through the covers then follows up with a wild swipe across the line. He continues living dangerously as a thick inside edge is enough to get the ball away through square leg and to the rope. Bennett finishes the over attempting and missing a ramp but the Zimbabwean intent is becoming clearer.
2nd over: Zimbabwe 8-0 (Bennett 4, Marumani 2) Marcus Stoinis takes the new ball and begins with a loosener for a wide. The allrounder quickly finds his line and gets the ball angling across Marumani. The Zimbabwe opener looks untroubled until swinging hard at a shorter ball and failing to get over the top of his shot. He is fortunate to see it drop a few metres wide of the fielder at backward square.
1st over: Zimbabwe 4-0 (Bennett 4, Marumani 0) Ben Dwarshuis makes a fine start on his return to the XI as he has the ball moving off the deck and he carves through Brian Bennett several times. Australia are excited by a noise after a delivery that jags off the seam and send a review upstairs. That is quickly declined and Bennett responds with two runs through point.
Zimbabwe openers Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani are on their way out to the middle and hoping to set the tone for the underdogs who are facing their own injury concerns. Ben Dwarshuis is back in the XI and has the white ball in hand as we’re about to get under way in Colombo …
Zimbabwe have also made a fast start to their T20 World Cup campaign as Blessing Muzarabani (3 for 16), Richard Ngarava (3 for 17) and Brad Evans (3 for 18) ripped through Oman.
Steve Smith was widely considered unlucky – at least by me – to miss out on being part of Australia’s squad for this T20 World Cup. But he is set to join up with the squad this evening, according to stand-in skipper Travis Head, after Mitch Marsh suffered the most unfortunate of injuries.
Australia are one from one in the tournament so far after Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa sealed the win over Ireland. Read all about it or watch the highlights below.
Zimbabwe XI
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Blessing Muzarabani.
Sikandar Raza is happy to bat first on what he expects to be a consistent surface that might slow up as the sun comes out and the game drags on. Zimbabwe have brought in an extra spinner but Brendon Taylor, who hit the winning runs in the famous victory over Australia back in 2007, has been ruled out of the tournament.
Australia XI
Australia: Travis Head (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matt Kuhnemann.
Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett drop out of the XI with Tim David and Ben Dwarshuis coming in. Steve Smith is yet to join up with the group after all, but Head says – with a hint of uncertainty and a laugh – that he will arrive tonight. The Australia stand-in skipper seems typically relaxed.
We’re used to a bit of chaos early in a tournament. We just have to put another good performance in. I think given the conditions we did really well [against Ireland]. We did it in a different way to what we normally do but today is a different pitch and we’ll have to adapt again.
Australia win the toss and elect to bowl
Sikandar Raza calls tails but the coin drops on heads and Travis Head takes no time to send Zimbabwe in to bat first. Changes coming for both sides.
Australia and Zimbabwe have minimal history of meeting in T20Is with only two clashes since Prosper Utseya’s side pulled off the shock of the 2007 T20 World Cup. Normal service was resumed when Australia beat Zimbabwe convincingly in a pair of matches in Harare in 2018, with the first win set up by Aaron Finch’s fireworks. The Australia captain hammered 172 from 76 balls in a devastating knock that still stands as the second highest by a men’s batter in the international format.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the T20 World Cup group B match between Australia and Zimbabwe in Colombo. Both sides made winning starts to their campaign with the undermanned Australia brushing aside Ireland by 67 runs, and Zimbabwe making even lighter work of Oman in an eight-wicket victory. But there is little margin for error from here with only the top two in each five-team group to progress to the Super Eight stage, and co-host Sri Lanka also likely to challenge for those pivotal places.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh is unlikely to be fit to face Zimbabwe after copping a painful blow to the, ahem, midriff in training ahead of the team’s T20 World Cup opener. Tim David is also expected to miss today’s game at R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium as a thin squad continues to teeter on the brink of an injury crisis. The absence of the heavy-hitting duo might help open the door for Zimbabwe to pull off what would be a huge upset though it remains to be seen whether Steve Smith is parachuted into the Australia XI after getting a late call-up to join the squad.
The two sides are at least somewhat unfamiliar to each other after not crossing paths in a global tournament or bilateral series since playing three ODIs in north Queensland in 2022. But Zimbabwe will be happy to look back further to the time when they stunned Australia at the first T20 World Cup way back in 2007.
Toss and confirmed teams will be coming up shortly – with first ball to be bowled at 4.30pm AEDT / 11am local in Colombo / 5.30am GMT – so please take the time to get in touch with your thoughts and predictions. Drop me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X.
