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The T20 World Cup 2026 campaign of Australia was humiliated on February 17, 2026, marking the first time in the history of the tournament that the defending champions left the group stage. The five-time champions had to be a mixture of results to stay alive since they had lost their first two matches, but the qualification of Zimbabwe, which was achieved even without having to play their last match in their group, was the knockout.

The point of no return was reached when the match of Zimbabwe and Ireland in Pallekele was cancelled because of nonstop rain. The teams were each awarded a point leaving Zimbabwe with five points in three matches (one against Australia, one washout, one previous win). This made them second to the group B behind Sri Lanka who had already qualified with six points.

Australia only had two points after being beaten by Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and this meant that they could no longer qualify in the top two even after they had won their final dead-rubber match against Oman. They had a poor net run rate (–0.812) that could not help them to beat Zimbabwe on tiebreaks. It was a mathematical conclusion to the fate of the Aussies as their final match was bound to start- their first group-stage since the history of T20 World Cup and their third tournament without even making it to the semi-finals.

Their victory in the group stage against Australia by 23 runs earlier in the group stage was the cornerstone to Zimbabwe getting to the Super 8, the first time they had won against the men in yellow in T20Is. Annual great all-round performance of Sikandar Raza (3/18 and 34) and 47 of Regis Chakabva ensured that Australia was limited to 116/9 following its posting of 139/9. The victory was hailed as a breakthrough in Associate cricket, and the rain over Ireland merely proved what had been already a near-certainty.

After qualification, Captain Sikandar Raza said: This is huge to Zimbabwe cricket. Winning over Australia and making it to the Super 8 is a dream to our country. It is the last group match, and the team is against Sri Lanka to determine who gets the first position and both teams are already through.

In the case of Australia, the tournament was a debacle. Damages to crucial pacers and erratic batting, bad death bowling and poor tactics made them susceptible to Mitchell Marsh. Coach Andrew McDonald confessed: We have not been playing at the level that we should. This disappoints all people. Retired players demanded a new change in white-ball strategy before the 2028 world cup in Australia.

The fairytale performance of Zimbabwe has been the tale of the tournament so far as it shows the power of Associate nations to challenge and defeat the giants.