AUS vs ZIM T20 World Cup 2026: Australia's Matthew Renshaw has said that they have suffered yet another injury blow in the ongoing mega event, as star all-rounder Marcus Stoinis sustained an injury in their humiliating defeat to Zimbabwe. On Friday, Australia suffered a humiliating loss to Zimbabwe by 23 runs in Colombo, where injuries have increased their woes.

Stoinis had injured his hand as he tried to stop a ball in his over. He was seen getting immediate treatment from the physio and was seen leaving the ground as Cameron Green bowled the last ball of that over. Stoinis came in to bat at the no.7 position and scored 6 runs off four balls, and then Wellington Masakadza took his wicket.

Renshaw, who was their highest run-getter as he had scored 65 off 44 balls, revealed that they weren't sure as to how bad Stoinis’ injury was and that the medical team would analyse it further.

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“Probably Marcus Stoinis was going to bat higher; he got that hit on the finger, we don't know how bad it is. I'm sure the medical staff will treat that, but yeah, that was the one today. We just weren't good enough today,” Renshaw told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“They played really well, they batted really well, got 170 on the board, had wickets in hand to launch at the end, and took early wickets. So it's always tough in a T20 when that happens,” Renshaw added.

AUSTRALIA STRUGGLING WITH INJURY WORRIES

Australia’s World Cup campaign has been disrupted by a string of injury setbacks that have unsettled their preparations. Veteran pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out before the tournament began, with Cummins sidelined by a persistent back issue and Hazlewood failing to recover in time from hamstring and Achilles injuries.

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The problems deepened when captain Mitchell Marsh suffered a groin injury during training, ruling him out of the opener against Ireland. Australia subsequently called up Steve Smith as cover, with the experienced batter flying to Sri Lanka to reinforce the squad if required.

Power hitter Tim David also missed the early part of the campaign with a hamstring strain but returned for the match against Zimbabwe.

Following their defeat to Zimbabwe, Australia will aim to regroup when they face co-hosts Sri Lanka on Monday, February 16, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.