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4.47pm
Marumani freed his hands in the third over plundering two fours in two balls with a flourishing drive and then an improvised shot across his body for the second four.
This pitch is a new one but hasn’t given the bowling side much of an advantage so far although Dwarshuis did beat the bat a couple of times.
Zim 0-17 from three overs
4.43pm
Zimbabwe’s openers Bennett and Marumani have been a little cautious so far but have held solid for the first two overs.
They are 23 and 24 respectively. Bennett is one of the rising stars in T20 cricket and the Aussies would love to get him out soon and avoid letting him get off the chain.
Zimbabwe 0-8 from two overs.
4.37pm
Keeper Josh Inglis was certain he had caught Bennett out after a ball went past his back leg.
So Head backed his keeper and it proved a mistake as the ball flicked Bennett’s pants and was nowhere near his bat.
Ben Dwarshuis has caused some issues in the first over but no wicket.
Zimbabwe are 0-4 from one over.
Glenn Maxwell of Australia and Ryan Burl of Zimbabwe interact.Credit: Getty Images
4.28pm
4.26pm
This is the first match-up between Australia and Zimbabwe since they played a one-day series in Queensland in 2022.
Zimbabwe skipper Raza said after the toss that his side knew they rarely play Australia and want to make the most of their time in the spotlight.
Australia’s captain Travis Head, second right, toss the coin as Zimbabwe’s captain Sikandar Raza, right, makes his call.Credit: AP
For those who aren’t across the timezones changes, this match is being played at 11am local time in Colombo , so the crowd looks a little sparse right now but there are a bunch of fans from both nations watching on excitedly.
Play is just minutes away.
4.22pm
Marsh reacts after he was hit in the groin during training on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
Mitch Marsh suffered testicular bleeding after he was hit on the box by a “wanger” throwdown from Australian assistant coach Matthew Wade on Sunday, leading to Steve Smith’s summons to join the Twenty20 World Cup squad in Colombo.
Marsh suffered what was initially thought to be a fairly typical blow to the groin during a net session in the days leading up to the first cup game against Ireland.
On Monday Marsh trained again and appeared to be fine to take his place in the team against Ireland.
But when his discomfort lingered longer than the usual period in which teammates often struggle to hide their mirth, scans showed the consequences and ruled him out of the start of the tournament.
That was enough to get Smith booked on a plane from Adelaide, where he took part in Wednesday’s LIV Golf pro-am at Grange alongside the likes of Cameron Smith and Elvis Smylie, to join the team on standby in Sri Lanka.
Smith said in Adelaide on Thursday that he expected to be available from Monday night’s game against Sri Lanka.
“He’s been a little bit sore over the last few days, so poor bugger, you don’t envy a man in that position,” Nathan Ellis said of Marsh.
4.12pm
The teams have been named and both have made two changes.
Australia gets Tim David back and will bring in Ben Dwarshuis with Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett going out.
Zimbabwe have lost Brendan Taylor, likely for the tournament according to skipper Sikandar Raza while Graeme Cremer has come in for Richard Ngarava who is injured but Raza hopes he will be back later in the world cup.
Ben Dwarshuis sends one down.Credit: Getty Images
Teams
Australia: Josh Inglis, Travis Head (captain), Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Dwarshuis.
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Mayers, Sikandar Raza (captain), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tony Munyonga, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Blessing Muzarabani.
4.04pm
UPDATED: Australia have won the toss and will bowl.
Both teams go in with 1-0 records so they this shapes as a pivotal matchup.
“We are used to some chaos at the start of competitions and are challenge is to put another good performance in,” Aussie skipper Travis Head said after the toss.
Head joked that Steve Smith hasn’t arrived yet but he hopes he will join the team tonight or tomorrow.
“He [Smith] played golf a couple of days ago,” Head said with a laugh.
3.58pm
We are awaiting the coin toss and naming of the final teams but all eyes are on whether the heavy-hitting Tim David (Australia) and keeper-batter Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) are going to play.
David is coming back from a hamstring injury during the Big Bash while Taylor, who had a match-winning 60 not out in an upset win over Australia at the 2007 T20 World Cup, went down injured in his side’s win over Oman so remains an uncertain starter.
We will add the teams as soon as we can. Start time for the match is 4.30pm AEDT.
Tim David of Australia.Credit: Getty Images
3.48pm
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