Travis Head insists Australia's Twenty20 World Cup hopes have not died with a shock loss to Zimbabwe as his side prepares to use its 2023 World Cup triumph as a blueprint for recovery.

Australia are in a battle to progress beyond the group stage after Friday's 23-run loss to Zimbabwe, who are 11th on the ICC rankings and did not qualify for the tournament's last edition.

"We put ourselves under pressure losing wickets in the powerplay," Head said after Australia slumped to 4-29 chasing 170 runs for victory.

The depleted Aussies likely cannot afford to drop their next game against co-hosts Sri Lanka on Tuesday (AEDT) and may not make the super eight stage even if they win.

But Head has drawn confidence from the 50-over World Cup in 2023, when Australia recovered from another slow start and eventually stunned hosts India in the tournament final.

"We've been here before," said Head,

"We said that at the toss, a little bit about '23 and having injuries and working through, navigating through tournament play, which is difficult.

"We've seen a lot of tight games. All the teams are very good. (But) we've found ourselves in this position before."

Australia stand 1-1 after matches with Ireland and Zimbabwe at the T20 World Cup, but in 2023, they were 0-2 following losses to India and South Africa.

Injuries have made for uncertainty at the selection table this time around, with Josh Hazlewood (hamstring, achilles), Pat Cummins (back) and Mitch Marsh (testicles) all sidelined.

Big-hitting Tim David also missed the first match with a hamstring issue, while allrounder Marcus Stoinis injured his hand bowling against Zimbabwe before returning to bat.

A perfect two from two record for Zimbabwe against Australia in #T20WorldCup matches 👏More on their famous win 👉 https://t.co/my3UfBassW pic.twitter.com/rBk3puDP0R— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 13, 2026

In 2023, there were personnel obstacles to overcome as well.

Out-of-form Alex Carey and Cameron Green were dropped during the tournament, while Stoinis and Head had delayed starts through injury.

Four members of the XI that lost to Zimbabwe - Head, Josh Inglis, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell - were part of the team that defeated India in the 2023 World Cup final.

Also present that day in Ahmedabad were injured T20 captain Marsh and Steve Smith, set to join the squad as a travelling reserve imminently,

"We had a few guys in that dressing room who were here in India in '23 that navigated through that and we ended up on the right side of it," said Head, player of the match in the 2023 World Cup final.

"We'll go back to the blueprint on that, try to much keep as much confidence in the dressing room as possible. We've got two more games to win."

Australia also suffered defeat in the group stage at the 2021 T20 World Cup before going on to claim their first and only title.

They beat New Zealand in the final despite an eight-wicket thrashing from England on the way through.