February : Colombo (TIP): Zimbabwe notched up a stunning six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their final Group B T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.
Opting to bat, Pathum Nissanka carted eight fours en route to a 41-ball 62 and Pavan Rathnayake blasted a 25-ball 44 in the back end as SL posted 178 for 7.
In reply, Brian Bennett (63) hit a fifty and skipper Sikandar Raza (45) produced the needed acceleration as Zimbabwe chased down the total, scoring 182-4 in 19.3 overs to top the group.
Earlier, Graeme Cremer (2/27), Blessing Muzarabani (2/38) and Brad Evans (2/35) claimed two wickets each for Zimbabwe.
Both the teams have qualified for the Super 8s.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka: 178-7 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62; Graeme Cremer 2/27, Blessing Muzarabani 2/38).
Zimbabwe: 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63, Sikandar Raza 45; Dushan Hemantha 2/36).
Aus out of T20 World Cup
Australia have been knocked out of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup before even finishing their group stage fixtures after Zimbabwe’s match with Ireland in Sri Lanka was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
With each side taking a point from the rained-off tie Australia, on two points, can no longer catch Zimbabwe, on five, even if they win their final match against Oman on February 20.
Heavy rain in Kandy meant the covers were on the Pallekele International Stadium for much of the day before the match was finally called off three hours after the scheduled toss. Zimbabwe thus go through to the Super 8 stage alongside Sri Lanka, with Thursday’s match between the teams deciding who tops group B.
It is the first time Australia have been knocked out of a World Cup at the group stage, in either the T20 or ODI formats, since 2009. Their only victory was over Ireland, who were also eliminated by the washout.
It was defeat by Sri Lanka that knocked out Australia in both cases, in Nottingham in 2009 and Kandy on Monday, but the real damage this time was done by the loss to Zimbabwe. The African side did not qualify for the last World Cup, in 2024, and had to start their journey to this event in October that year, in the sub-regional Africa B tournament. They won 10 successive qualifiers to get to the World Cup, and two more in Sri Lanka prior to this match.
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