Australia have found themselves in unfamiliar territory, which is being on the brink of exiting an ICC tournament from the group stage itself.
They have lost two out of their three T20 World Cup 2026 matches, and look down and out. Sri Lanka delivered a near-fatal blow on Monday evening, defeating the Mitchell Marsh-led side by 8 wickets in a high-scoring chase.
They occupy the top spot in Group B now with 6 points, followed by Zimbabwe on 4 points. The Aussies look down and out, by there still is a sliver of hope.
Before we take a look at Australia's T20 World Cup Super 8s qualification scneario, let's first take a look at the current Group B standings:
Sri Lanka: Matches: 3 Won: 3 Lost: 0 Points: 6 NRR: +2.462
Zimbabwe: Matches: 2 Won: 2 Lost: 0 Points: 4 NRR: +1.984
Australia: Matches: 3 Won: 1 Lost: 2 Points: 2 NRR: +0.414
Ireland: Matches: 3 Won: 1 Lost: 2 Points: 2 NRR: +0.150
Oman: Matches: 3 Won: 0 Lost: 3 Points: 0 NRR: -4.546
Australia now have just one match left in the group stage, which is against Oman. Provided they win, they will reach a maximum of 4 points.
However, if Zimbabwe win just any of their two matches, Australia will be knocked out.
So to qualify for the Super 8s, Australia need to win against Oman by a big margin to enhance their NRR, and hope for Zimbabwe to lose at least one of their matches and somehow drop their NRR considerably.
Chasing 182, Sri Lanka overhauled the target in just 18 overs, finishing on 184/2 to secure their place in the Super 8s.
The chase was anchored by an unbeaten century from Pathum Nissanka, who scored 100 off 52 balls, supported by a fluent 51 from Kusal Mendis.
Australia had earlier posted 181, powered by a strong opening stand between Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, but a middle-order collapse saw them all out. The result, as already mentioned, leaves Australia’s qualification hopes in jeopardy.
