1st Time In History: Australia Suffer Embarrassing Low After T20 World Cup 2026 Exit

Australia suffered an embarrassing low after the Mitchell Marsh-led side crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2026 with one group stage match still remaining. Australia won just one of their three matches, and their fate was sealed when the game between Ireland and Zimbabwe was washed out on Tuesday. As a result, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe booked their spots in the Super 8s, while Australia's remaining game against Oman became a "dead rubber." Australia won their opening game against Ireland but suffered back-to-back defeats against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. This marks the first time Australia has failed to reach the T20 World Cup semifinals three times in a row.

Since winning the T20 World Cup in 2021, Australia was knocked out in the Super 12 stage in 2022 and crashed out in the Super 8s in 2024 following a shock defeat against Afghanistan.

Earlier, Mitchell Marsh admitted his side was devastated and left relying on other results after Australia slumped to an eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in a crucial clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Monday.

Marsh felt that 182 was a competitive target at the halfway mark but conceded that Australia had fallen short despite a blazing start. “I thought it was a competitive total at the halfway mark. We probably left ourselves a few short after the start we had. It is disappointing. Well played to Sri Lanka. They outplayed us tonight,” he said.

Australia were cruising at 110/2 before losing momentum dramatically in the latter stages. “We know that at our best, we can make big scores. We just lost our way towards the back-end. Couldn't get the partnership going. Sri Lanka bowled really well towards the back-end. We knew we were a few short in the end, as I said earlier. Not much else to say except that Sri Lanka outplayed us,” Marsh added.

With agency inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Australia Cricket Team Sri Lanka Cricket Team Ireland Cricket Team Zimbabwe Cricket Team T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket