Out of form, undermanned and thrashed by Zimbabwe, can Australia salvage their World Cup?

Australia’s 23-run loss to Zimbabwe is as big an upset as we will see in world cricket.

It’s very much in the David and Goliath territory. This is a seven-time World Cup winner and powerhouse nation in the global game being beaten by a country that is still recovering from political turmoil which saw them banned and lose a generation of players.

To put into perspective the financial gulf between the two nations, Zimbabwe’s best players earn just over $250,000 from their board. Marcus Stoinis’s IPL contract of $2 million alone, without even mentioning the value of his Cricket Australia contract, would be worth more than the entire Zimbabwe XI.

This is Australia’s fifth loss in 40 internationals to Zimbabwe since they first played in 1983 and their first defeat since … the last time they played them in 2022 in Townsville.

There will be a sense of schadenfreude in the global cricket community at Australia’s defeat, given the country rarely plays the lower-tier nations.

Australia have hosted Zimbabwe in just one series in 22 years. Their only meeting came in August and September 2022 in the aforementioned three-game ODI series in Townsville.

Australia’s shock defeat means they must defeat host nation Sri Lanka in the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEDT) if they are to have any hope of avoiding being embarrassingly eliminated in the first phase of the tournament.

This was already a tortured campaign for Australia, who are missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood then lost skipper Mitch Marsh to a freak testicular injury.

Questions must now be asked of Australia’s selection. They opted to play this stage of the tournament with 14 players instead of 15 after opting not to replace Hazlewood, as they believed they had the personnel to get through.

In Marsh’s absence, Steve Smith would have been incredibly handy at the top of the order, at least offering a steady and experienced head for the tricky run chase, but he was playing in at a LIV Adelaide Pro-Am on Wednesday and is en route to join the team in Sri Lanka.

Australia have made similarly slow starts in major tournaments before and recovered to win, most recently at the 2023 World Cup in India, but it’s extremely difficult to see how this undermanned squad can repeat history.

Australia’s 23-run loss to Zimbabwe is as big an upset as we will see in world cricket.

It’s very much in the David and Goliath territory. This is a seven-time World Cup winner and powerhouse nation in the global game being beaten by a country that is still recovering from political turmoil which saw them banned and lose a generation of players.

To put into perspective the financial gulf between the two nations, Zimbabwe’s best players earn just over $250,000 from their board. Marcus Stoinis’s IPL contract of $2 million alone, without even mentioning the value of his Cricket Australia contract, would be worth more than the entire Zimbabwe XI.

This is Australia’s fifth loss in 40 internationals to Zimbabwe since they first played in 1983 and their first defeat since … the last time they played them in 2022 in Townsville.

There will be a sense of schadenfreude in the global cricket community at Australia’s defeat, given the country rarely plays the lower-tier nations.

Australia have hosted Zimbabwe in just one series in 22 years. Their only meeting came in August and September 2022 in the aforementioned three-game ODI series in Townsville.

Australia’s shock defeat means they must defeat host nation Sri Lanka in the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEDT) if they are to have any hope of avoiding being embarrassingly eliminated in the first phase of the tournament.

This was already a tortured campaign for Australia, who are missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood then lost skipper Mitch Marsh to a freak testicular injury.

Questions must now be asked of Australia’s selection. They opted to play this stage of the tournament with 14 players instead of 15 after opting not to replace Hazlewood, as they believed they had the personnel to get through.

In Marsh’s absence, Steve Smith would have been incredibly handy at the top of the order, at least offering a steady and experienced head for the tricky run chase, but he was playing in at a LIV Adelaide Pro-Am on Wednesday and is en route to join the team in Sri Lanka.

Australia have made similarly slow starts in major tournaments before and recovered to win, most recently at the 2023 World Cup in India, but it’s extremely difficult to see how this undermanned squad can repeat history.