Australia team vs Zimbabwe - (Source: AFP)
On Friday, February 13, Zimbabwe stunned Australia after they handed Travis Head-led side a 23-runs defeat to clinch two wins in two matches. It was Zimbabwe's second-straight win over Australia in T20 World Cup history.
Talking about the match, Zimbabwe, batting first, put 169/2 on the board. In reply, Blessing Muzarabani took a four-wicket haul to restrict the Aussies to just 146. Now, after two matches, Australia are placed third in their group with just a single win in two matches.
Australia have two matches left in their group stage, and ahead of their upcoming fixture, this article will shed light on how Australia can still qualify for the Super eight round.
How can Australia qualify for the Super 8 Round?
As mentioned above, Australia have two matches left in the tournament. They will play against Sri Lanka on February 16 and Oman on February 20.
Scenario 1: If Australia win both their remaining matches
- Now, if the Travis Head-led side beat Sri Lanka and Oman, then they will finish with six points in four matches. For Australia to finish in the top 2 in such a scenario, they would want Zimbabwe to beat Sri Lanka, so that the Aussies finish second in the group, as Sri Lanka will crash out of the tournament with just 4 points in four matches.
- In case, Sri Lanka win against Zimbabwe and lose against Australia, they will finish the table with six points. Further, Zimbabwe can also finish with six points if they win against Ireland. Now, in such a scenario, three teams will finish with six points, and Australia would have to make sure that they have a better net run-rate out of the three teams.
Scenario 2: If Australia win one of their remaining matches
- Now, another possible scenario for Australia is that they lose against Sri Lanka and win their match against Oman, they will end up with four points in four matches.
- In that case, Australia still have one chance through which they can qualify. In that scenario, the Men in Yellow will have to pray that Sri Lanka also beat Zimbabwe in their final group-stage match to finish the group as the invincibles.
- Then Zimbabwe should also go onto lose against Ireland in their last group-stage match to finish with four points in four matches. Hence, net run-rate will again come into play and the team with better NRR will proceed.
Therefore, at present, plenty of options are still open for Australia, and their upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 match against Sri Lanka on February 16 at the R. Premadasa Stadium is of utmost importance.
For the unversed, Australia have failed to replicate their fifty-over dominance in T20Is as the Travis Head-led side have just one title in 9 edition in the shortest format of the game. The last and only time Australia won the T20 World Cup title was in 2021 in UAE.
