The T20 World Cup is a tournament that is known to provide at least one upset in every edition, which came in the form of Zimbabwe, who beat Australia by 23 runs to register their second win of the competition.
This was the second instance when Zimbabwe got the better of Australia in the T20 World in as many matches, having done so for the first time in the inaugural edition held in South Africa. Interestingly enough, one player who was part of the Zimbabwean squad in the 2007 World Cup was present in the dugout in this edition as well. The player in question is Brendan Taylor, although he didn’t play the match, but was there to celebrate with his team.
This article talks about the biggest upsets in the history of the T20 World Cup
1.Australia (138/9) vs Zimbabwe (139/5), 2007
As mentioned, the T20 World Cup witnessed its first major upset in the very first edition when Zimbabwe got the better of what was at that time considered an invincible Australian team by chasing a score of 139 runs on the penultimate bowl of the match.
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West Indies (164/8) vs Bangladesh (165/4), 2007
Bangladesh scripted the second upset of that particular edition by getting rid of West Indies in Johannesburg, with them chasing a target of 165 runs with six wickets in hand.
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England (162/5) vs Netherlands (163/6), 2009
The 2009 T20 World Cup saw the emergence of a new rivalry between England and the other European nations, led by the Netherlands, who beat them by four wickets.
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Netherlands (133/5) vs England (88/10), 2014
The Netherlands showed the world that the win in the previous edition wasn’t a fluke as they registered their second win over England in the history of the T20 World by 45 runs.
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Afghanistan (123/7) vs West Indies (116/8), 2016
Afghanistan started showing what they are capable of from the very start by defeating eventual champions West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup by seven runs in a low-scoring thriller
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Namibia (163/7) vs Sri Lanka (108/10), 2022.
The 2022 T20 World made up for the lack of or no upset in the previous edition by serving as many as four upsets that year, starting in the qualifying round itself, when former World Cup winners Sri Lanka were outplayed by Namibia to give them a 55-run win.
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Ireland (157/10) vs England (105/5), 2022
England failed to get a win over a European nation for the first time as rain played spoilsport in their match against Ireland, with them falling five runs short of DLS par score whilechasing 158 runs to win.
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Zimbabwe (130/8) vs Pakistan (129/8), 2022
Pakistan also find their name in this list as the then Babar Azam-led side failed to cross the line in a chase of 130 runs against Zimbabwe.
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Netherlands (158/4) vs South Africa (145/8), 2022
One of the most talked about matches in recent times involved South Africa and the Netherlands, where the latter came out on the right side of the result, which turned the fortunes of Pakistan, who went all the way to the final courtesy of a huge favour from the Dutch.
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USA (159/3, 18/1) vs Pakistan (159/7, 13/1), 2024
If the Men in Green were the beneficiary of an upset in 2022, they were on the wrong side of the result in the very next edition, courtesy of a spirited chase from the USA, who took the game into the Super over and registered a memorable win.
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Afghanistan (159/6) vs New Zealand (75/10), 2024
As has been the case quite often in the T20 World Cup in terms of less experienced teams registering comprehensive wins over teams that have a good amount of experience, evidence of which was Afghanistan’s win over New Zealand in the 2024 T20 World Cup, that too by a decent margin of 84 runs.
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Afghanistan (148/6) vs Australia (127/10), 2024
Not only New Zealand, but Afghanistan also got the better of Australia by defending a manageable total of 149 runs and bowling Australia out for a score of 147.
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Zimbabwe (169/2) vs Australia (146/10), 2026
The ongoing T20 World Cup has also given us an upset after building up the anticipation since the first match between Pakistan and the Netherlands. Australia is the team that is on the receiving end for the second edition in a row, with Zimbabwe beating them by 23 runs.
Also Read: Blessing Muzarabani: Zimbabwe Tall Fast Bowler Hero
