Zimbabwe Stuns Australia in T20 World Cup Upset, Bennett Warns Team

Aussie batter Matt Renshaw, who scored a valiant fifty in a losing cause, reflected on the nature of T20Is, adapting to different surfaces and the team battling injuries.

After a week of teases and tense finishes in the matches involving lower-ranked/associate teams against bigger teams, the T20 World Cup produced its first big upset as Zimbabwe repeated the heroics of the inaugural tournament back in 2007, beating Australia by 23 runs courtesy fine spells from Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans.

" I think it is obviously a great start to get two out of two wins this tournament. We have got two more games left in the pool matches. Need to go back to the drawing board, not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Still got two big games to play, and hopefully we can come out on top of those as well. I do not think it is going to be easy (reaching Super 8). We have got Sri Lanka and Ireland for the next two games. As I said, we will go back to the drawing board, go back to our processes, go back to our planning, and you never know, T20 is a funny game, anything can happen," Bennett said during post-match press conference.

"It is a huge win for us as Zimbabwe, not only us as the players but also as a country. I mean those fans came all the way from Zimbabwe, they have spent a lot of money to get here, and we are just grateful for what they've done, what they've done for the last two games and also to the fans back home. We always hear their messages, hear their support. So to go and do that out today was pretty special for everyone," he added.

Bennett said that targeting 170-run plus score was "definitely very hard" against quality Aussie bowlers consisting of Nathan Ellis, Ben Dwarshius, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell etc.

"Parking our egos there, especially towards the bigger boundary with the match-ups, especially with the wind, was one of the things we spoke about there in the middle. I think it was more of just hitting the ball on the ground, trying to get the twos, run them hard. But yeah, definitely, I think we did that well to get to 170. I thought it was a good score," he added.

Australia's Matt Renshaw, who made a valiant 44-ball 65 during a chase of 170 runs, reflected on playing different roles, batting at number four in the campaign opener and batting at six today due to all-rounder Marcus Stoinis being hit on his finger.

"I think it is just playing the scenario. Obviously, I have been in twice early. Learned a lot from Pakistan in those three T20s. I know we did not perform very well, but we learnt a lot in those conditions. So being able to come out here today, take my time early, not feel any pressure to score, still get some boundaries away, and it was probably a bit different today compared to the other day. The other day was probably a bit more turn, a bit more spin. So today was just trying to get us to a position where we win the game, and unfortunately, that was not the case," he said.

He said that Stoinis was going to bat higher, but he got hit on his finger while bowling and the extent of its injury is not clear.

"I am sure the medical staff will treat that, but yeah, that was the one today, but yeah, we just were not good enough today. They played really well, they batted really well, got 170 on the board, had wickets in hand to launch at the end and took early wickets. So it is always tough in a T20 when that happens," he added.

On whether regular captain Mitchell Marsh's groin injury, which has caused the team to open with Josh Inglis and Travis Head, and Stoinis's injury have disrupted the batting's rhythm, Renshaw said the Aussie batting is "fluid" with different options.

"Obviously, having Mitch out is a big loss and not sure when he will be back, but yeah, he is obviously a big inclusion to open the batting, that makes someone else open the batting, so it is sort of just those differences in where people are going to be. But in terms of fluidity, I think we are all pretty able to manipulate and manoeuvre around different conditions. And yeah, unfortunately, we just lost wickets at the wrong time today," he added.

Reflecting further on his team's loss, their second in two matches against Zimbabwe in the T20 WC after the 2007 WC loss, Renshaw said that "people can have a day out" in T20s, and the gap in skill between bigger and smaller teams is not as big.

"There is a difference in the rankings, but in T20 cricket, someone can have a great day out, someone can get a few early wickets, and it is just the game changes. So I think that is just the nature of T20 cricket, and they played really well. I do not remember watching the one in 2007, but they probably played well that day as well. So they are a good team, they have got a lot of good players, you saw they were missing their captain today, and they still played really well so they have got a great cricket team," he added.

Renshaw said that in T20Is, one has to adapt to different surfaces, and while Australia has more true and bouncy wickets, India has different wickets, shorter boundaries and in Sri Lanka, boundaries are bigger.

Zimbabwe's T20 World Cup campaign has got off to a fine start with two wins in two matches, with four points, with wins over Oman and a stunning victory over Australia. Australia elected to field first, and Zimbabwe started off well with a 61-run partnership between Tadiwanashe Marumani (35 in 21 balls, with seven fours) and Brian Bennett.

Later on, a 70-run stand between Bennett (64 in 56 balls, with seven fours) and Ryan Burl (35 in 30 balls, with four boundaries) and skipper Sikandar Raza's cameo of 25* in 13 balls, with two fours and a six, took Zimbabwe to 169/2 in 20 overs, with Marcus Stoinis and Cam Green getting a wicket each.

In the run-chase of 170 runs, Australia lost their first four wickets for just 29 runs, but a 77-run stand between Glenn Maxwell (31 in 32 balls, with a four and a six) and Matt Renshaw (65 in 44 balls, with seven fours and a six) brought Australia back in the hunt. However, Zimbabwe bowlers kept chipping away with regular wickets and bundled out Australia for 146 in 19.3 overs.

Blessing Muzarabani (4/17 in four overs) and Brad Evans (3/23) were amongst the top bowlers for Zimbabwe, with Muzarabani getting home the 'Player of the Match' award.

Muzarabani not only blessed Zimbabwe with a stunning victory over Australia in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash but also became the third pacer from his team to enter the 100 T20I wicket club, alongside Richard Ngarva and Sikandar Raza.

In 85 T20Is, he has taken 100 wickets at an average of 21.08, with a four-wicket haul to his name and best figures coming today. Above him are Ngarva (111 wickets in 91 matches at an average of 20.96, with two four-fers) and Raza (103 wickets in 129 matches at an average of 23.03, with two four-fers and a five-wicket haul). Also, Muzarabani's spell is the best bowling figures for Zimbabwe in a T20 World Cup match.

Bennett also overtook Hamilton Masakadza to become the team's fourth-highest run-getter in T20I history. In 54 T20Is, he has made 1,708 runs in 54 innings at an average of 34.16 and a strike rate of over 143, with a century and 10 fifties and a best score of 111. Masakadza had scored 1,662 runs in 66 T20Is and innings at an average of 25.96 and a strike rate of over 117, with 11 fifties and a best score of 93*.

Sikandar Raza is the leading run-getter in T20Is for Zimbabwe, scoring 2,913 runs in 129 matches and 124 innings at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate of 135.74, with a century and 16 fifties and a best score of 133*.

- ANI