4 min readFeb 17, 2026 11:20 PM IST
First published on: Feb 17, 2026 at 11:19 PM IST
The last time Australia were knocked out of an ICC T20 World Cup, Ricky Ponting was the skipper of the Aussies, Michael Clarke was his deputy and Brett Lee was their frontline pacer. There are some similarities to how that Australian team was packed out of the World Cup and how this squad’s campaign ended in Sri Lanka, at the hands of Sri Lanka.
On Monday in Pallekele, the Lankans won with 12 balls to spare, thanks to a superlative hundred from Pathum Nissanka (only the third batsman ever to score a ton in a T20 World Cup chase). The Australians had a decent start – the stats definitely suggested so. According to ESPNCricinfo, Australian openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head’s partnership of 104 from 51 balls was only the third-ever instance where an opening partnership of over a hundred runs went on to lose a game at a T20 World Cup.
Back in 2009 it was the duo of Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis who denied Ponting and co. But the framing of that loss was centred around how Australia’s Ashes preparations were dented because of the two-week gap they would now have between the World Cup in England and the start of their season’s most important Test series on the same soil.
In that game in 2009, Australia batted first and were restricted to 159 in their 20 overs with both Mendis and Malinga picking up three wickets apiece. Sri Lanka could have kept the Australians to a lower total had it not been for Mitchell Johnson, who helped the Aussies smash 65 from the last five overs.
The Lankans chased down the target of 159 in the 19th over, with Kumar Sangakkara anchoring the latter half of the innings. A notable batting achievement in the match was Jehan Mubarak smashing Brett Lee for two sixes towards the end of the Lankan innings. The loss ended their campaign in 2009 and was also the final T20I match that Ricky Ponting played.
Earlier in the tournament, Australia were downed by West Indies in the opening Group C game. It was one thing to score a challenging total of 169 at the oval but a completely different thing when West Indies chased down that target with ease, finishing the game in 15.5 overs and with the loss of only 3 wickets.
But the bigger story around the Aussies at the time was the issue of Andrew Symonds.
Symonds was sent home early from the T20 World Cup because of an inability to curb his drinking, an issue that he later admitted gained traction from the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ incident from 2008. In England in 2009, It would be Symonds’ third drinking violation of the year, one that caused Cricket Australia to terminate the all-rounder’s contract later.
Ponting, in a hastily arranged press conference had then said: “I don’t think Cricket Australia could have done any more for him. He’s been stood down on a number of occasions and he has been working through some processes off the field over the last 12-18 months to make himself better in different aspects of his life. He has had plenty of opportunities, that’s for sure. James Sutherland made it pretty clear it was an alcohol-related incident. We’re talking about commitments he made to himself and the team, so as much as anything he has let himself down, his team-mates, and he’s let Cricket Australia down.”
Pakistan’s maiden T20 WC
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India all made it to the Super 8s in England. But while India lost all their games to South Africa, England and the West Indies, both Lanka and Pakistan topped their group.
In the final though, Pakistan avenged their Super 8s loss to the Lankans and easily chased down a target of 138 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The last time Australia knocked out from group stage of T20 World Cup was in 2009. (PHOTO: X/FILE) 
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