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Well, knock me down with a feather. In 1983, at their first World Cup outing, then-Associate side Zimbabwe pulled off one of the great cricketing upsets by beating Australia in their first one-day meeting. Today, lowly Zimbabwe - who most other nations probably feel should be back in the Associate ranks - did it again by beating Australia in their first Twenty20 meeting, and in doing so have left Group B wide open.

Australia, who haven't played an international match in almost 5 months, were decidedly out-of-sorts, and with Zimbabwe on something of a high after their recent series against South Africa (notable as they weren't completely hammered) they took full advantage of some rusty play by the Aussies and conditions that perfectly suited Zimbabwe's style of play. Superb performances in the field kept the Aussies pegged back to 138/9 from their 20 overs, with the top 3 Aus batsmen all failing to reach double figures.

Come the reply, and nerves were jangling - Zimbabwe were clearly in with a chance, but their batsmen have failed to fire on so many occasions and the mighty Australians weren't about to give them an easy time - were they? But Vusi Sibanda set the tone for Zim's innings by smashing 23 off 15 balls before being caught by Gilchrist off Bracken. Some mid-order wobbles after Chamu Chibhabha's dismissal, and a rain break that threatened to bring Duckworth-Lewis into play, complicated things a bit, but Brendan Taylor anchored the side well and, reminiscent of his heroics against Bangladesh in 2006 (remember the winning last-ball six?) saw the side home to a stunning victory with one ball to spare.

That leaves group B very delicately poised. A win against England tomorrow will see Zimbabwe through to the second group stage; if they lose, then England must beat Australia to ensure Zim's place, else net run rate comes into play. Tomorrow's game is going to be a must-see match. Before the tournament, Zim coach Robin Brown had pointed out that Twenty20 was a great leveller:

“In cricket, the fewer overs there are, the more equal the teams become. That is how exciting Twenty20 is. It comes down to the team that’s firing on the day.”

Today, Zimbabwe were the team that were firing, and they received their just rewards.

Quote of the day (from a variety of sources, including Sky Sports commentary and CricInfo): "A newcomer to Newlands might be thinking that [Zimbabwe] were the world champions and the side in the skin-tight yellow and grey lycra were the no-hopers."

Watch the Action: There's an extensive collection of video clips from the match available at the World Twenty20 website. There's also post-match reaction from Ricky Ponting and Hamilton Masakadza at Sky Sports.

Scorecard below the cut.
Australia 138/9 (20/20 overs; Hodge 35*, Chigumbura 3/20), Zimbabwe 139/5 (Taylor 60*, Clark 2/22). Zimbabwe win by 5 wickets, currently lead Group B.

Australia innings
AC Gilchrist	c Matsikenyeri b Chigumbura	4
ML Hayden	c Taylor b Chigumbura	        4
RT Ponting	c Chigumbura b Brent	        8
A Symonds	st Taylor b Masakadza	        33
MEK Hussey	run out (Sibanda)	        15
BJ Hodge	not out	                        35
BJ Haddin	c Chigumbura b Utseya	        6
B Lee	        b Brent	                        12
MG Johnson	run out (Brent/Taylor)	        9
NW Bracken	c Sibanda b Chigumbura	        4
    Extras	(b 2, w 6)	                8
    Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs)   	138

Did not bat: SR Clark 

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Hayden, 0.4 ov), 2-12 (Gilchrist, 2.2 ov), 
3-19 (Ponting, 3.6 ov), 4-48 (Hussey, 9.2 ov), 
5-86 (Symonds, 13.4 ov), 6-102 (Haddin, 16.2 ov), 
7-119 (Lee, 18.1 ov), 8-134 (Johnson, 19.3 ov), 
9-138 (Bracken, 19.6 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ	
E Chigumbura	3	0	20	3	6.66	
GB Brent	4	0	19	2	4.75	(2w)
T Mupariwa	3	0	23	0	7.66	(3w)
CJ Chibhabha	3	0	17	0	5.66	(1w)
P Utseya	4	0	28	1	7.00	
T Taibu	2	0	20	0	10.00	
H Masakadza	1	0	9	1	9.00	


Zimbabwe innings (target: 139 runs from 20 overs
V Sibanda	c Gilchrist b Bracken	        23
BRM Taylor	not out	                        60
CJ Chibhabha	c Gilchrist b Clark	        15
T Taibu	        c Gilchrist b Johnson	        0
S Matsikenyeri	c Gilchrist b Clark	        3
H Masakadza	lbw b Lee	                27
E Chigumbura	not out	                        4
    Extras	(lb 4, w 3)	                7
    Total	(5 wickets; 19.5 overs)         139

Did not bat: KM Dabengwa, P Utseya, GB Brent, T Mupariwa 

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Sibanda, 3.5 ov), 2-54 (Chibhabha, 6.6 ov), 
3-55 (Taibu, 7.6 ov), 4-70 (Matsikenyeri, 10.5 ov), 
5-123 (Masakadza, 18.3 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ	
B Lee	        4	0	31	1	7.75	(2w)
NW Bracken	3.5	0	25	1	6.52	
SR Clark	4	0	22	2	5.50	
MG Johnson	4	0	26	1	6.50	(1w)
A Symonds	2	0	11	0	5.50	
BJ Hodge	2	0	20	0	10.00