Zimbabwe advanced to the Super Eights after their match against Ireland was washed out in Pallekele without a ball being bowled, while 2021 champions Australia were eliminated from the T20 World Cup on Tuesday.
Ireland were also knocked out as Zimbabwe qualified from Group B alongside Sri Lanka, and they will next play the West Indies, India and South Africa.
With little chance of starting the required five-over match before the 6:10 pm cutoff time, the umpires finally called it off at 5:30 pm local time (1200 GMT) due to the persistent drizzle that kept the covers on at Pallekele Stadium throughout the day. Australia needed to win against Ireland to maintain their aspirations after losing to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Ireland is currently in third place with three points, while Zimbabwe leads the league with unassailable five points with one game remaining. With two points and a match against Oman on Friday left, Australia won’t be able to overhaul Zimbabwe.
Australia’s preparation for the event was chaotic. Leading fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out due to injuries, and captain Mitchell Marsh missed the first two games due to testicular hemorrhage after being struck in the crotch during practice.
Despite being in excellent form at the top of the order in the Big Bash League and having experience playing against spin bowling, Test great Steve Smith was left out. He officially joined the Australia team over the weekend after flying in as cover last week.
However, he was left out of Monday’s crucial match against Sri Lanka, which resulted in an eight-wicket loss for Australia due to a collapse in their middle order.
Although he acknowledged his team’s success in making it to the round of eight, Zimbabwe captain Sikander Raza cautioned that there would be more difficult challenges ahead.
“We have come this far. We will celebrate but we have a game against Sri Lanka to come. This is only a tick in the box and this is not the only thing that we set out for. Everyone loves an underdog story,” AFP quoted Raza as saying.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker was devastated that his team was unable to play.
“Obviously very disappointed to go out in this fashion, but completely uncontrollable. Our batting failed. There were big moments in the tournament particularly against Sri Lanka when we dropped so many catches. Hopefully, we will handle these tough situations differently moving forward,” said Tucker.
