The former India captain said Zimbabwe showed real character and was praised Bless Muzarabani for his exceptional performance with the ball, which earned him the Player of the Match award. Muzarabani struck twice in the powerplay and took two more wickets at the end of the innings to finish with exemplary figures of 4/17 in four overs. After the massive upset, Tendulkar expressed his excitement over the way the big event is shaping up.
“A statement win from Zimbabwe! Beating Australia by 23 runs takes real character. And of course Blessing proved to be just that, a blessing in the true sense of the word, with a fantastic four-wicket spell. What an exciting tournament this is going to be!” Tendulkar wrote on his official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.
3:01 PM · February 13, 2026
Earlier in the day, Australia won the toss and elected to field first. The Zimbabwean openers batted with determination, mixing caution with aggression to post a 61-run stand inside eight overs. Brian Bennett anchored the innings with an unbeaten 64 off 56 balls, while Tadiwanashe Marumani and Ryan Burl made handy contributions. However, Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 25 off 13 balls at the death helped Zimbabwe finish with a flourish.
Chasing a target of 170 runs on a slow surface, Australia lost four wickets inside the first five overs. Glenn Maxwell and Matt Renshaw kept their team in the hunt with a partnership of 77 runs off 59 balls. However, after Maxwell was dismissed for an uncharacteristic 31 off 32 balls, Renshaw had too much to do alone. The left-hander was eventually dismissed for 65 in the penultimate over. Three balls into the final, Australia were bowled out for 146.
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