Zimbabwe and their habit of upsetting T20 World Cup champions continued, as this time, they had Australia at their feet to secure a 23-run win in Match No. 19 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday, February 13. Skipper Sikandar Raza expressed how happy the dressing room is after collecting their second straight win of the 2026 edition.

What's more interesting is that the Chevrons did not enter the encounter at their full strength. Ahead of the game, experienced campaigner Brendan Taylor was ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring pull, whereas Richard Ngarava did not play since Zimbabwe did not want to take any risk with his niggle, which could turn into a full-blown injury. Raza, meanwhile, also went through cramps.

"All I can tell you is that these are just cramps, and I should be fine in the next day or two," Raza said after the match while explaining the gravity of his thigh issue he faced during the match.

The scope of Zimbabwean injury struggles does not end there, unfortunately.

"We have just 13 able bodies right now, and I went down, and even [Graeme] Cremer has a bit of a niggle. But I am sure Zimbabwe Cricket is looking into the replacements because in these conditions, you need 15 able bodies. The boys deserve to enjoy today. If we keep the same processes and take it one game at a time [it'll be good]. We are in a great position, but it doesn't mean anything. So the next game is now the most important one."

The culture, environment, and unity in Zimbabwe dressing room is amazing

There's a very popular saying that goes, 'All's well that ends well,' and Raza's Zimbabwe couldn't be happier with the result, which saw them defeat the giants to solidify their case for a Super Eights spot. 

"I'm very happy and, above all, very proud. I feel like a brother whose younger brothers are achieving a lot together. The culture, environment, and unity we've created are amazing, and on top of that, to win is unbelievable. 70-odd at 10 overs, and I was happy, and we discussed that we don't want to go for 190," Raza said further.

"Had we tried to go for 190, we would have been 140 all-out. We've seen in Sri Lanka that you can end up losing wickets if you go too hard too early. So we sent a message to Benny that he's doing well and we'll get to a good score if he stays through. And then the fielding, the catching, the boundary stopping ... looked like the boys really wanted it," he added.

The deal isn't done for Zimbabwe, though. They have to face Oman and Sri Lanka next and beat at least one of them to secure a top-two finish in Group B of the twenty-team tournament.