T20 WC: Tim David back as Australia choose to bowl against Zimbabwe

Colombo, Feb 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) Australia won the toss and elected to bowl against Zimbabwe in their second match of the 2026 T20 World Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday. Travis Head will continue to lead the side in place of Mitchell Marsh, who missed out due to injury, while Tim David is back to the playing XI.

Australia are coming into the contest after registering a dominating 67-run victory over Ireland in their opening match played at the same venue.

Despite missing their top fast bowlers, Australia managed to keep Ireland in check, with Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa taking four wickets each. The balanced bowling unit and smart batting adjustments helped them post a competitive total of 182 runs on a pitch that favoured slower bowlers and helped them start their campaign on a good note.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe are also coming into the contest after a confident eight-wicket win over Oman in their campaign opener. Zimbabwe's opening match was all about pace, with Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, and Brad Evans each taking three wickets to bowl out Oman for just 103 runs and then chasing the small target easily in just 13.3 overs with the help of magnificent innings from Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor.

After winning the toss, 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. I think it’s about dealing with the conditions. I felt we did that really, really well."

"We want to keep the pressure on the run rate. We probably did it in a different way than we naturally do, but that’s down to the wicket conditions. It’s a different wicket today as well, so it’s about summing up the conditions, adapting well, and playing smart cricket. 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," he added.

While after losing the toss Raza said, "Not a bad thing to bat first, the pitch might get slower and we've picked an extra spinner. The bounce here on different wickets is a gap of around 13m, so we need to keep our discipline and hit the top of the stumps. We don't have too many chances to play against Australia, and the ICC has given us this chance, so looking to do well."

"Two changes for us - unfortunately, Brendan Taylor has been ruled out of the competition, Richard Ngarava has been rested as a precautionary measure. His second scans came out well. Tony Munyonga and Greame Creamer are in," he added.

Playing XIs:

Australia: Travis Head (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann.

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

Source: IANS