Australia officially crashed out of the T20 World Cup after rain caused the abandonment of Zimbabwe vs Ireland, sending the African side through to the Super 8s.
Australia were on the brink of exiting when they crumbled to an eight-wicket loss against co-hosts Sri Lanka on Monday, having slipped to an abject 23-run defeat to world No 11 side Zimbabwe last Friday.
They still had an outside chance of qualifying, but would have needed Zimbabwe to lose to both Ireland and Sri Lanka, while thrashing Oman themselves in their one remaining group-stage match to try and sneak through on net run rate.
That slim chance quickly transformed to none on Tuesday morning as the rain came down in Kandy, meaning the start of Zimbabwe’s clash with Ireland was delayed before the game was abandoned without a ball being bowled just after 12pm GMT.
It meant both sides picked up a point and guaranteed Zimbabwe will finish in the top two in Group B, sealing a spot in the Super 8s, and making history in the process.
The Chevrons have never made it this far at a T20 World Cup, with their previous best being a Super 12 stage appearance in 2022, although they did reach the Super Six phase at both the 1999 and 2003 ODI World Cups – ultimately only missing out on a semi-final spot in the former due to net run rate.
Their match against Sri Lanka on Thursday will now decide who tops the group, while Australia’s clash with Oman the following day is a dead rubber.
Australia won the T20 World Cup as recently as 2021 and have a record six 50-over World Cup titles to their name but, shorn of the senior players that have underpinned their success, they have struggled this year.
Left-arm legend Mitchell Starc has retired from T20 internationals, while fellow seamers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are sidelined with injury, meaning it’s their first World Cup in over a decade without at least one of their fearsome pace trio, and the back-up quicks such as Nathan Ellis have failed to impress.
Their batting line-up has also sunk without a trace, especially against spin, losing 10 wickets for just 77 runs against Sri Lanka after openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head had set a brilliant platform of 104-0 from 8.3 overs.
Steve Smith was not in the initial squad, despite averaging just under 60 for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and not in the Xi to face Sri Lanka even after a late call-up.
“I think that the whole campaign was doomed from the get-go with selection issues and injuries,” Australia legend Mark Waugh said on SEN radio after the Sri Lanka loss.
“To me, the non-selection of Steve Smith in the squad originally is the most baffling non-selection I can remember for ages.
“I just think they’ve got the selections completely wrong and to have your best player by 100 yards sitting on the sideline in Steve Smith… I think it’s an insult to Steve Smith, to be honest.”
