Head channels 2023 as Smith call looms for Australia

Stand-in captain Travis Head has invoked the spirit of 2023 with an injury-hit Australia already facing virtual knockout cricket at the T20 World Cup after a shock defeat by Zimbabwe.

Australia tumbled to a 23-run loss in their second match of the tournament leaving them must-win matches against Sri Lanka and Oman in a bid to progress to the Super Eights. The game against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Monday shapes as a massive test for side battling an ongoing list of injuries and players out of form, even though legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga is out of the tournament.

Having lost Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood before the tournament - the latter a particularly severe blow given his T20 impact - Mitchell Marsh missed a second match in a row with his testicular injury and Marcus Stoinis was added to the casualty list after a blow to the hand in his follow through. Stoinis was later able to bat one place lower than initially planned, although that did open the way for Matt Renshaw to produce an impressive 65 off 44 balls at No. 6.

Tim David, who hadn't batted in the middle since Boxing Day after a hamstring injury, fell for a second-ball duck when he picked out short fine leg with a pull while Glenn Maxwell looks well short of his best. Cooper Connolly, who was left out for David's return, has seen his runs dry run up since an early surge in the BBL and Josh Inglis has a top score of 42 in eight innings since the Ashes.

Steven Smith, who was called up as cover after Marsh's injury, is due to arrive with the squad as they head to Pallekele and could soon find himself officially added - either as Hazlewood's replacement or Marsh's if he doesn't recover - with Australia close to having to pull the emergency ripcord.

"We've found ourselves in this position before," Head said at the post-match presentation. "We said that at the toss, a little bit about '23 and having injuries and working through, navigating through tournament play, which is difficult. We've seen a lot of tight games. All the teams are very good. [But] we've found ourselves in this position before."

"A few guys in that dressing room were here in India that navigated through [the ODI World Cup] and we ended up on the right side of it. So we'll go back to the blueprint of that, try to keep as much confidence in the dressing room as possible and we've got two more games to win."

In 2023, Australia had carried Head through the first stages of the tournament as he recovered from a broken hand. They lost their first two matches and were on the back foot in the third against Sri Lanka before turning their fortunes around and charging to the title with Head a leading star. In this tournament, however, there is even less wiggle room in a short group stage.

In that ODI World Cup, Maxwell played arguably the greatest one-day innings of all-time to haul Australia over the line against Afghanistan but currently looks a long way short of that player. He laboured to 31 off 32 balls in Colombo, the slowest 30-plus score of his T20 career, as he largely struggled to time the ball against Zimbabwe's spinners and medium pacers.

With David coming into the tournament having played no cricket since late December and the unfortunate absence of Marsh, it means the batting order that operated with such destructive force during 2025 has yet to take shape in Sri Lanka.

"I think our batting group is so fluid with different options," Renshaw said. "Having Mitch out is a big loss and not sure when he'll be back. He's a big player to open the batting, and when he's not there, someone else has to open. So we have those differences in where people are going to be. But in terms of fluidity, I think we're all pretty able to manipulate and manoeuvre around different conditions."

Meanwhile, Australia left out Xavier Bartlett, the closest option they have to a strike bowler with the new ball, in favour of the left-arm variation of Ben Dwarshuis who went for 40 in his four overs. The two wickets taken was the fewest Australia had ever claimed in a full 20-over first innings in a T20I.

"I think the bowlers in the group that are here are good enough," Renshaw said. "You've seen them perform so many times in world cricket. Sometimes they just don't get the wickets, the ball lands in the gap. But I back our bowling group. We probably should have chased that down. I don't think it's the bowling group that should get the blame today."

Since winning the title in 2021, Australia have stumbled at the T20 World Cup. A heavy defeat to New Zealand was costly in 2022 then they fell in the Super Eights two years later with losses against Afghanistan and India. As recently as four months ago they looked primed to be serious challengers this time; now they are fighting to just stay in the mix.