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Ireland vs Zimbabwe T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Bennett to batter the struggling Irish attack

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 16 Feb 2026

Simon Lewis 16 Feb 2026

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Brian Bennett scored 64* off 56 balls in Zimbabwe’s win over Australia.
Lorcan Tucker hit four sixes in his 51-ball 94* against Oman.
Can Zimbabwe beat Oman to remain unbeaten in the 2026 T20 World Cup?

Expired

Brian Bennett pulls against Oman (Getty Images).

Ireland vs Zimbabwe Predictions

Ireland have the slimmest of hopes of qualifying for the Super 8s after losing their opening two matches. Zimbabwe will be massively boosted by yet another World Cup win over Australia and should come out all guns blazing against Ireland. I’m 100% behind Zimbabwe for this clash.

Ireland vs Zimbabwe Predictions
Head-to-Head
Ireland Form
Zimbabwe Form
Ireland vs Zimbabwe Team News & Squads

Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett has scored 56, 48* & 64* in his last 3 innings.
Zimbabwe’s Ryan Burl has scored 50* & 35 in his last 3 innings.
Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker has scored 38, 21, 24 & 96* in his last 5 innings.
Ireland’s Gareth Delany hit four sixes in his 30-ball 56 against Oman.

Head-to-Head

Zimbabwe have won one and lost two of their last five T20Is against Ireland. Two of the matches were rained-out. Zimbabwe won their last meeting by three wickets in 2025.

Ireland Form

After losing their opening two matches of the World Cup, Ireland earned their first victory when they beat Oman by 96 runs.

Ireland recovered from 64/4 in the 8th over to post an enormous 235/5 off their 20 overs. Lorcan Tucker was the star of the show, smashing 94* off 51 balls. He added 101 for the fifth wicket with Gareth Delany (56 off 30).

George Dockrell hit five sixes off nine balls at the end of the innings to score 35* at a phenomenal strike rate of 388.88.

Oman offered some resistance with a 73-run stand for the third wicket, but their middle order and tail crumbled to 139 all out off 18 overs.

Josh Little (3/16, econ 4.00) ran through the middle order, while Matthew Humphreys (2/27, econ 6.75) and Barry McCarthy (2/32, econ 10.66) played their part in rolling Oman.

Zimbabwe Form

Zimbabwe built on their opening match victory over Oman by clinching a magnificent 23-run win over Australia to put them in a strong position to qualify for the Super 8s.

Brian Bennett (64* off 56) was again in the runs, guiding his side through to a competitive score of 169/2 on a tricky wicket. He received great support from Tadiwanashe Marumani (35 off 21), Ryan Burl (35 off 30) and skipper Sikandar Raza (25* off 13).

Blessing Muzarabani (4/17, econ 4.25) and Brad Evans (3/23, econ 6.57) tore through the Australian top-order, reducing them to 29/4. Despite a middle-order recovery, the Zimbabwe attack held their nerve to bowl Australia out for 146 with three balls in hand.

Ireland vs Zimbabwe Team News & Squads

Ireland skipper Paul Stirling will miss the rest of the World Cup after suffering ligament damage to his knee. The opener will be replaced by 20-year-old batter Sam Topping.

Speaking at an ICC press conference, Ireland's Director of High Performance, Graeme West, announced the change to the media.

“Paul Stirling underwent an assessment and a scan after the Australian match which has subsequently revealed ligament damage – as such, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup. Paul will shortly return home for rest and rehabilitation, ahead of the home summer," said West.

“To replace Paul, we have called up Sam Topping, who is able to provide immediate cover as he is a short flight away in Chennai. Sam has been with the Northern Knights training squad and has been playing and training in similar conditions to Sri Lanka. The skill set he offers provides cover across a number of areas within the squad, which is important as Ben Calitz is also carrying a knock to his hand after the last match,” added West.

Ben Curran comes into the Zimbabwe squad to replace Brendan Taylor who picked up a right hamstring injury against Oman.

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza told the TV commentators during the post-match interview that he was proud of his teams’ win over Australia.

“To win is unbelievable. The culture, environment and unity we've created is amazing. We've seen in Sri Lanka that you can end up losing wickets if you go too hard too early. So we sent a message to Benny that he's doing well and we'll get to a good score if he stays through,” said Raza.

“We have just 13 able bodies right now but I am sure Zimbabwe Cricket is looking into the replacements because in these conditions, you need 15 able bodies. We are in a great position, but it doesn't mean anything. So the next game is now the most important one," added Raza.

Ireland squad: Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Sam Topping, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young

Zimbabwe Squad: Sikandar Raza, Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Ben Curran, Brad Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava.

Verdict

Ireland v Zimbabwe

I am backing Zimbabwe to win. I am also backing Brian Bennett to top score for Zimbabwe.

Lorcan Tucker is a good bet to top score for Ireland.

Brian Bennett

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

You can follow more from Simon at Muckrack, X and LinkedIn.