10.59am Out walk Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani. A lot of eyes will be on Bennett, one of the brightest batting talents Zimbabwe have had in a while. Looks like Ben Dwarshuis has the new ball in hand. Bennett on strike first up. Slip in place
Dil: “Beg to differ @John, that Australian team reached the semis of that world cup, and boasted of Gilly, Hayden, Symo, Ponting, Brett Lee, Mitch Johnson and more! To beat an Aussie team with those names is remarkable, plus if anything those days rarely any team, not just Australia, took the format seriously!”
The teams line up for the national anthems.
10.50am Legspinner Graeme Cremer has been picked to play today. He spent seven years out of the international game, but now he is back. Here is an interview he did with Firdose Moonda ahead of the World Cup, on making his comeback and wanting to “give back”.
Ajit : “This is a depleted Australian side? Can’t imagine what full strength would look like”
Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Tony Munyoonga, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Graeme Cremer, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
Australia: 1 Travis Head (capt), 2 Josh Inglis (wk), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Tim David, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Matt Renshaw, 8 Ben Dwarshuis, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Matt Kuhnemann, 11 Adam Zampa
Wasim Akram in his pitch report reckons it is a typical Premadasa pitch, dry and a bit slow. He expects fast bowlers to be able to trouble batters with back-of-length deliveries and variations. Says it won’t be an easy pitch to bat on.
John : “I wouldn’t put too much stock on that World cup win by Zimbabwe, that was before Australia realised that T20 was more than a bit of light hearted relief. ” — Can’t argue there.
Abdul Baqi: “What would you do if you are traveling to a country with no live stream and tv telecast of cricket, that’s KSA for me btw. You turn to Cricinfo.” — That’s right!
paulyt: “I was one of only 17% to predict Aus win toss and bowl (and one of the first) Is there a leaderboard with some sort of prize? ;)” — Only prize is bragging rights.
Sunny K: “Curious to know why Mitch Marsh is not included in the squad?” — A testicular injury, suffered in training.
10.30am Time for the toss! Travis Head is leading Australia again. Tails is the call, heads it is. Australia will bowl. “We’re used to a bit of chaos early in the tournament. Really relaxed group. Just have to put another good performance in. I think given the conditions we did really well. We did it in a different way to what we normally do. Today is a different pitch. We have to adapt. [Steven Smith] isn’t here yet. He was playing golf a couple of days ago [chuckles]. Conolly and Bartlett out for Dwarshuis and Tim David.”
Sikandar Raza says it’s not a bad place to bat on, with the wicket expected to get slower as the sun comes up. They are playing an extra spinner. “[On facing Australia] The ICC has given us the dance floor, we just have to make the most of it.” Brendon Taylor has been ruled out of the competition. Ngarava misses out as a precaution, with Munyonga coming in.
sss: “hows da weather looking? i am 10km away n its cloudy here” — Looks fairly clear for now. Rain is expected in the afternoon, but possibly after this game is done. Fingers firmly crossed we get an uninterrupted game!
Mustafa Moudi : “While we are waiting for a real upset this edition – This Clash delivered the First Ever Upset in the History of T20 World Cup when Zimbabwe defeated Australia by 5 Wickets. Can we another upset today ??” — Zimbabwe did indeed beat Australia in that inaugural T20 World Cup, and that means they hold a 1-0 head-to-head against Australia in T20 World Cups! Australia, however, did beat them twice in a tri-series and hold a narrow 2-1 overall head-to-head record against Zimbabwe.
Vishnu Kamat : “will Steve Smith be able play today?” — No, he’s not yet officially been added to the squad.
10.20am One of Zimbabwe’s strengths is their fast bowling arsenal. In Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans, Zimbabwe have a cohesive unit with each member bringing variety and versatility. Madushka Balasuriya wrote about how it all worked out for them in their outing against Oman.
Kishore : “Zimbabwe did well the other day against Oman. Expecting them to put up a fight today against Aussies.”
10.15am One of Australia’s injury concerns is Tim David, who didn’t play against Ireland, but could be in line for a return today. Leading up to the World Cup, Alex Malcolm had written about David’s move up the order and how he now has more time to do maximum damage.
Alex also has our live report up and running. Head on over there for more detailed analysis, colour and more, as the game goes on.
10.10am In the absence of their ‘Big Three’, Nathan Ellis has become a key cog of Australia’s bowling attack in this World Cup. He showed just why with a four-wicket haul against Ireland. Andrew Fidel Fernando wrote about Ellis and his love for ‘a bit of chaos.
10.05am Zimbabwe are on a high, marking their return to the T20 World Cup with a commanding win over Oman. Australia also started strong against Ireland, but are dealing with a fair few forced absences, including uncertainty over their captain Mitch Marsh, who missed their tournament opener and is set to miss today’s game as well. Does that give Zimbabwe an advantage? Who are the key players today? What are the likely XIs? Find the answers to these questions and more in Tristan Lavalette’s preview.
Travesty ball: “How can Australia be one of the tournament favourites with the injurys they have and such indifferent form the last 12 months?” — As for the injuries, they are a team with plenty of depth. Imagine being able to call up Steven Smith as a reserve player! And as far as form is concerned, I think we know that Australia in a World Cup is a different beast to Australia in bilaterals.
10am Hello and good morning, we are into the seventh day of the T20 World Cup 2026, and today we have Australia taking on Zimbabwe at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Cricket is often about which teams win the big moments more often. Taking your chances when the bowlers are on top. Making a save to extend a boundary-less period to build pressure. As a batter, just surviving what should be the last tricky over before the conditions ease up in your favour for you to cash in. When an underdog goes up against strong favourites, they need to make the most of these moments. We have seen near-upsets in this World Cup, only for those underdogs to lose a few of these key moments, and eventually fall short. Will Zimbabwe today be able to turn the script on Australia? Hi, I’m Abhimanyu, and I look forward to finding out the answer to that question on ESPNcricinfo’s live coverage of today’s game.
