Australia eliminated from group stage:Zimbabwe advances to Super 8 after rain washes out game vs Ireland

2021 champions Australia have been eliminated from the league stage of the T20 World Cup 2026. The Tuesday’s match between Zimbabwe and Ireland was abandoned due to rain. The toss at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy was also cancelled. Therefore, for the first time in the T20 World Cup’s history, Zimbabwe have reached the Super Eights. A day earlier, the Aussies lost to Sri Lanka by 8 wickets. Zimbabwe defeated them by 23 runs on February 13th. Australia are now set to face Oman on February 20th. However, even with a win, Mitchell Marsh’s team won’t be able to advance to the next round. This is the second time in the tournament’s history that the Australian team has been eliminated from the group stage. Previously, in 2009, the team was eliminated from the league stage under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy. The first match of this World Cup has been abandoned The first match of the current World Cup has been cancelled. Eight matches have been cancelled so far in the tournament’s history. Two matches were cancelled in the 2016 edition. One match each was cancelled in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2022, and 2024. How did Australia get eliminated due to the abandoned match? In Group B, Sri Lanka has reached the Super 8. Two teams from each group advance to the Super 8. Oman has already been eliminated. Now, the race for the second spot is underway between Zimbabwe, Australia, and Ireland. Zimbabwe has four points, while Australia and Ireland have two points each. The cancelled match will give Zimbabwe one point. Consequently, Australia will be unable to overtake Zimbabwe even if it wins its last match. Zimbabwe creates history The 32nd match of the Group B T20 World Cup was set to be played between Zimbabwe and Ireland on Tuesday at Pallekele. However, the rain washed out the game. Also, ZIM never reached the Super-8 stage in the last seven attempts, so their entry into Super 8 is a historic moment for the team.