T20 World Cup: Australia opt to field first against Zimbabwe in Colombo

Australia decided to field first after winning the toss against Zimbabwe in match 19 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, being played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday. Travis Head is leading Australia in the absence of full-time captain Mitch Marsh, who is still recovering from his injury.

Australia made two changes to the playing XI, with Ben Dwarshuis and Tim David replacing Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett. Zimbabwe also made two changes, with Brendan Taylor and Richard Ngarava missing out, and Tony Munyonga and Graeme Cremer entering the XI.

Taylor has been ruled out of the tournament. He retired hurt after making 31 runs against Oman. After winning the toss, Australia captain Travis Head said, "We will bowl. Well, I mean, one eye is obviously on the cricket and the other on the fitness issues. But we're used to a bit of chaos early in competitions like this. We've had it before. It's a really good group, calm, and we're in a good space. We played well the other night, so our challenge now is to back that up and put in another strong performance."

Speaking about the availability of Steven Smith, he said, "No, (Smith) he's not here yet. He played golf a couple of days ago. I think he's in Chennai. It'll be nice having him around, and hopefully the skipper gets fit soon. Two changes for us - Connolly and Barrett sit out, Ben Dwarshius and Tim David are back into the XI." Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza said, "Probably that's not really a bad thing because I think the wicket is actually quite good at the start, and it starts to get slower. Hopefully, when the sun comes out, it will get slower. And we picked an extra spinner for today anyway, so I think it suits it really well. I think on this surface, ideally you want to be touch fuller because the bounce between these two surfaces is close to 13cm and that's quite a lot. If you bowl the same length here, I think it could sit up really nicely for them. So we just have to try and find the top of the stump there, and I think stay there."

"We've got two changes, unfortunately. Brendan Taylor picked up an injury, and he's been ruled out of the competition. On the other hand, Richard Ngarava is more of a precautionary measure. His first scan and second scan have come back pretty positive. So he misses out today as well. And for those, Tony Munyonga and Greame Creamer are in," he concluded. Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head(c), Josh Inglis(w), Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann.

Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani(w), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Ryan Burl, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Blessing Muzarabani. (ANI)