In the first ten overs, Australia dominated both reviews, and Josh Inglis, the wicketkeeper, was to blame for both. Both bowler and keeper were certain it was glove when Ben Dwarshuis’ ball brushed Brian Bennett’s thigh guard on its way to Inglis in the first over.
In the tenth over, Inglis executed another diving legside take off Cameron Green, and this time, he was certain that a bat was involved. However, the bat was nowhere near the ball and it was merely Ryan Burl’s thigh guard. Australia, who have set the run-rate back below 8 per over, will be hoping that doesn’t turn out to be costly.
Tadiwanashe Marumani’s style of play was beginning to worry Australia. Spin and pace were being collared by him. In his first over, he easily played Adam Zampa, Australia’s trump card. However, Marcus Stoinis’s tight line did the trick.
Marumani narrowly avoided the diving Josh Inglis after attempting to cut one too near to the off stump. When he attempted to cut again, he managed to get a thin nick through to Inglis with another precise line and length throw. As a result, Zimbabwe stalls slightly, reaching 66 for 1 after eight. Two important overs have seen Stoinis go 1 for 11.
Zimbabwe’s slow start has caused Tadiwanashe Marumani to accelerate. Ben Dwarshuis and Marcus Stoinis took swing and bounce out of the sticky fresh pitch in the early morning circumstances, making Australia’s decision to bowl appear wise in the opening two overs. The first two overs saw no boundaries from Zimbabwe.
Since then, however, Marumani has been free. He unleashed two spectacular reverse sweeps and a conventional sweep against Glenn Maxwell after thrashing two short balls from Dwarshuis to the rope. At the opposite end, Brian Bennett has been well-held.
Before Friday’s match against Australia in Colombo, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza announced that veteran wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor would miss the rest of the current T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury.
Taylor, 40, had to retire injured after suffering a hamstring injury in Zimbabwe’s opening tournament match, which they won against Oman, while he was on 31 off 30 balls. Three catches behind the stumps had been made by him earlier.
Zimbabwe has two games left in the World Cup group stage and has not yet announced a replacement player. Against Australia, Tadiwanashe Marumani will hold onto his wicket. Taylor has been replaced in the Zimbabwe XI by all-rounder Tony Munyonga.
Tim David is ranked number four. An excerpt from a recent article about how one of the most well-known death hitters in the world became Australia’s permanent No. 4-5 may be seen here.
Tim David is a well-known death hitter. It’s startling to watch him come out to bat during a T20 international’s powerplay.
He has only faced 12 balls in the powerplay while representing Australia until July 2025, and that was only when he was moved up the lineup in games that were cut short due to rain. On his way to an Australian record-breaking 37-ball undefeated century in July 2025, he walked out at No. 5 in Basseterre to face the final ball of the powerplay and hammered it for four.
All 12 balls of his innings came in the powerplay three days later at the same location; he struck four of his next seven balls for six and his fourth ball for four before being dismissed for 30 in the fifth over.
It worked on Saint Kitts and Nevis’s batter-friendly postal stamp. Would it work on big-bounded Australian pitches? In Australia’s subsequent game, the solution was revealed.
In Darwin, David faced the second ball of the fourth over as he stepped into bat. Australia’s score versus South Africa was 30 for 3. After defending the first ball from Kagiso Rabada, who had already lost two of the three wickets, he charged at the second and hit the long straight boundary with a good-length delivery at 140 kph.
He cut Corbin Bosch over cover for four and then over long-off for six in the following over. In the powerplay, he scored 18 points off of 7. In the midst of a barrage of inquiries about whether they had been too careless, Australia was 70 for 4.
In the end, Australia would produce a score that resulted in a 17-run victory after David made 83 off 52, facing the most balls of his T20 career. He made 50 off 24 at No. 4 in the next game. Officially, David was a middle-order hitter. In 2024, the seeds were planted for his ascent up the order.
