Zimbabwe play like giants while crushing them

In Colombo on Friday, Zimbabwe used only four batters, needed no more than two overs from their talismanic captain, bossed both powerplays, pulled off the more impressive catches, and were clinical at the close.

Had their cricketers played in one of the biggest T20 leagues in the planet over the past two-and-a-half months? No, that was Australia, and the Big Bash League. Had their board organised a T20 series in South Asia so they could arrive in Sri Lanka well drilled and battle-hardened? Nope - also Australia, traveling to Pakistan. Have they been World Cup champs before, perennial semi-finalists at any global event you care to mention, plus historically the most successful cricket nation on the planet? Clearly not. But guess who has.

Before their T20 World Cup 2026 opener against Oman, Zimbabwe had not played a T20I since November. They hadn't even appeared at the last World Cup, in 2024, having lost to Namibia and Uganda in the Africa qualifiers for that tournament. On Friday, against a team whose resources dwarf their own, and whose cricketing pedigree is unmatched, Zimbabwe were so clearly, and so unquestionably, the better team.

They won all three phases, bossing two.

In the powerplay, Zimbabwe openers Tadiwanashe Marumani and Brian Bennett sped to 47 for no loss, while Australia nosedived to 38 for 4. In the middle - from overs six to 15 - Australia made 76 for 1, while Zimbabwe struck 78 for 1. In the last five overs, Zimbabwe scored 44 for 1, whereas Australia crashed to 32 for 5.

Who were favourites here again? Because there is no discipline in which Australia were not outplayed.

Averages are usually misleading in T20 cricket. The best teams use up their batting resources effectively, taking on greater and greater risk towards the end of an innings, in which they still have firepower left to come. But in this match, the difference between the sides was so stark that it is impossible not to notice. Zimbabwe averaged 84.5 per dismissal. Australia averaged 14.6.

At no stage in the Australia innings did they ever seem like they had the measure of a chase of 170. They were outplayed so thoroughly that even the innings of Matt Renshaw, 65 off 44 balls, seemed a lone act of desperation that didn't quite kick on into "small miracle" territory. Zimbabwe closed doors around him, before eventually slamming it shut on even Australia's best batter on the day.

Often, it is the underdog team that depends upon a magical innings to catapult them to glory. On this occasion, by the end of the powerplay in Australia's, Zimbabwe looked like clear favourites.

That they utterly dominated these first six and the last five overs of Australia's innings was down to Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans, who took seven wickets between them, and bowled exclusively in the powerplay and at the death. Neither bowled magic deliveries. They barely attempted to. Instead, tight lines, variations of pace, a little nip off the surface, a touch of extra bounce, and rolling fingers over the ball sometimes without overdoing it - this was the Muzarabani-Evans wheelhouse.

They got hit for boundaries too - but only three between them over eight overs. It is not often that seamers produce the definitive spells in a match at Khettarama. Would you generally expect Zimbabwe seamers to blow an opposition away on a pitch such as this? Nope. Australian seamers, though…

And then, after the Aussie quicks have made a mess of the opposition's batting order, one of Australia's batters would come to a press conference and say something like this:

"I think the way our [opening bowlers] started us in the powerplay to get them four down for 37 was a great start for the team. And towards the death, they had to get almost 15 runs an over. If we just stuck to our plan, stuck to our processes, and executed quite well, it was always going to be tough for them to get the win. So credit to the fast bowlers there in the powerplay."

Except this time, it was Zimbabwe's Bennett being astoundingly chill about his team's quicks cutting up a batting order that featured the likes of Travis Head, Cameron Green and Tim David, who perhaps earn in one year more than what most Zimbabwe players do in a lifetime.

That their captain Sikandar Raza was barely on the field after going off for treatment after nine overs just added to the sense that Zimbabwe were playing far within themselves.

In the 18th over, Australia were still in the match, needing 39 off the last 15 balls, when Ben Dwarshuis thumped a shortish delivery from Evans in the direction of deep midwicket. Tony Munyonga, who was stationed there through the death overs, sprinted to his right, leapt off both feet, and completed a spectacular outfield catch - a contender for catch of the tournament.

Munyonga then sprung up on his feet, as his team-mates jogged to celebrate with him. No one was gesticulating aggressively. The vibe was that this was just a regular business day: no frills, no surprises, just another box checked against a team that was struggling with injuries, poor fellows. No charging of the field at the moment of victory was needed. No need to slip into high gear for this one.

"We planned this already, and we came in with two seamers and a lot of spinners," Bennett said. "So I think with Raza of the field, we've got a lot of senior players in the team - like Ryan Burl and Graeme Cremer. So I think they sort of took out the lead of controlling that, and at the end of the day, it worked out for us."

Zimbabwe played like a side that has never lost to Australia at a T20 World Cup, which, by the way, they haven't. An act of giant killing, in which they effortlessly assumed the demeanour of the giants.