Although not surprised, Zimbabwe have still stunned everyone by qualifying for the Super Eight stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, especially by beating one-time champions Australia in the group stage, as they have replaced seeded team Australia for the Super Eight stage.
Zimbabwe needed to play the regional qualifiers to earn the ticket for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Chevrons started the tournament from Group B, where they faced the hosts Sri Lanka, Australia, Ireland, and Oman. It was one of the toughest groups in the group stage, as there were four Test-playing nations in the group, and all the matches of the group were played in Sri Lanka.
Before the beginning of the tournament, Zimbabwe beat the Netherlands by 29 runs, but lost against Oman by four wickets. However, the Chevrons started the tournament with a dominant eight-wicket win against Oman by successfully chasing the 104-run target in just 13.3 overs. Then Zimbabwe stunned everyone by beating Australia by 23 runs after scoring 169/2.
Zimbabwe secured their Super Eight stage qualification with the rain-washed fixture against Ireland. Later, against the hosts Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe won by six wickets after successfully chasing a 179-run target in 19.3 overs. Unbeaten Zimbabwe finished Group B on top of the points table with seven points in four games.
Zimbabwe replaced seeded team Australia for Group 1 of the Super Eight stage, as the Chevrons will play all their Super Eight matches in India. The other three Group 1 teams are the hosts India, South Africa, and the West Indies. The top two teams of the group will qualify for the Semi-finals of the tournament, which will be the first-ever knockout challenge for the Chevrons in the T20 World Cup history if they advance to the last four stage.
Zimbabwe complete schedule for Super Eight stage in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026
23 February: Zimbabwe vs West Indies – Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai)
26 February: India vs Zimbabwe – M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai)
1 March: Zimbabwe vs South Africa – Arun Jaitley Stadium (Delhi)
