Adam Zampa led the charge through Bangladesh’s middle overs, before Pat Cummins claimed a hat-trick at the death as Australia made a commanding start to the Super Eight. A hat-trick from Pat Cummins and a breezy, unbeaten fifty from David Warner helped Australia make a winning start to Super 8 as they made light work of Bangladesh in a rain-hit encounter at North Sound. Bangladesh huffed and puffed their way to 140/8 before Australia raced towards it with ease.
The game didn’t witness a proper conclusion as a result of rain but Australia had enough in the tank by then to get the two points by DLS method. The intent in the powerplay made the difference. Bangladesh struggled, at least for the first half of their powerplay, scoring only 8 runs before eventually dragging that score to 39. However, Australia effortlessly managed to set up the chase with their belligerent hitting, taking full toll of the fielding restrictions to knock off 59 runs without losing a wicket.
Pitch and Toss
The humidity levels in Antigua have dropped quite a bit in the week. And the conditions should be rather favorable for both teams. The pitch itself, like the one in St Lucia, has come as close to being a true surface as any in the Caribbean, as we saw in the game between South Africa and the USA. Expect a loud atmosphere with a number of Bangladeshi fans having made the trip, and a lot of other South Asian expats from North America also in town, even if their teams aren’t.
The game yesterday seemed to be decided on the basis of South Africa being able to counter the crosswinds and use it to their advantage the best. Bangladesh will need more than just good cricket skills to get past or even threaten Australia in Antigua.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and chose to bowl with two changes in the Playing XI as Nathan Ellis and Ashton Agar makes way for Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto batting first made one change in the squad bringing in Mahedi Hasan for Jaker Ali.
A tale of two halves in Bangladesh Powerplay
It took Mitchell Starc just three deliveries to strike as Tanzim Hasan inside-edged one onto his stumps. Josh Hazlewood followed it up with a maiden over as Bangladesh made just 8 in the opening three overs. Desperate to get out of this rut, Najmul Shanto stepped down the track against Hazlewood to hammer him for a six before Litton Das hit a couple of boundaries off Starc. Bangladesh managed 31 off the last three powerplay overs but there was still a lot of work to be done.
Outside of a 58-run second-wicket stand between Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh were unable to string together any dominant periods with the bat.
Bangladesh tied down by spin especially Adam Zampa in middle overs
At 57 for 1 at the end of the eighth over, and two set batters in, Bangladesh were in a reasonable position from which to raise the tempo a little. But they were up against one of the canniest middle-overs operators going. Zampa slid in a fast arm ball, that Litton failed to hit with his sweep shot, and wound up bowled.
Later, Zampa also hit Shanto in front of the stumps with a fast leg break, removing Bangladesh’s top scorer of the evening. All up, he collected figures of 2 for 24 from his four overs. While Shanto attempted to show some intent again immediately after the end of the powerplay with boundaries off Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis, Australia regained control.
Litton missed a sweep against Zampa and got bowled whereas Glenn Maxwell struck in his very first over, getting rid of Rishad Hossain. The spinners tied down Bangladesh in the middle phase, not allowing the batters to break free. The pressure resulted in the key wicket of Shanto as well.
Pat Cummins hat-trick ensures a moderate finish in 20 overs
Bangladesh definitely needed at least 60 runs from their final five overs in order to pose a challenge for Australia. They had a well-set Towhid Hridoy and the veteran Shakib Al Hasan to take charge at the death. Even though Shakib was dismissed by Stoinis, Hridoy gave his side some hope after smashing Stoinis for successive sixes.
But an anti-climax was in store as Pat Cummins came in, varied his pace to good effect and ended up picking two wickets off consecutive deliveries to peg Bangladesh back further. Taskin Ahmed managed to eke out some precious runs in the penultimate over but the onus was on Hridoy to give his side a big finish.
Pat Cummins, who was on a hat-trick having picked those two wickets off the final two deliveries of his previous over, bowled a slower one as Hridoy couldn’t time a scoop properly and ended up finding the fielder. It was only the second instance of an Australian bowler picking up a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup. The previous one was by Brett Lee in the inaugural edition against the same opposition. Hridoy’s wicket was a massive blow for the men in green as they ended up with a below par total.
The last three overs were not fruitful for Bangladesh, who scored only 23 runs. Pat Cummins’ wicket-taking was chiefly responsible for Australia controlling that period of the game. Pat Cummins first two wickets came from back-of-a-length deliveries outside off. Mahmudullah tried to pull one through midwicket and ended up bottom-edging the ball into his stumps. Mahedi Hasan tried to ramp it, but provided only a neat catch to deep third.
Then, first ball of the final over, Pat Cummins outwitted Towhid Hridoy by bowling a slower, length ball to the batter, who only scooped it over the shoulder to short fine leg. This was Australia’s fourth hat trick in this format, but only the second in a World Cup. The first was by Brett Lee in 2007, also against Bangladesh.
Aussie openers tee off in the Playoffs
Australia were always going to come hard no matter what the target was. Travis Head and David Warner hit a boundary each in the opening two overs before the latter slog swept Mahedi Hasan for a six. Taskin was taken apart for 15 in his first over and even a good over from Mustafizur Rahman was ruined with Head finishing it off with a four and a six. Warner rounded off the powerplay with a six as Australia took full control.
It didn’t take long for Australia’s openers to impose themselves. Warner hit the second ball of the innings – bowled by Mahedi Hasan – for four with a reverse sweep. But it was in the fourth over, bowled by Taskin Ahmed, that they really got going, with both batters clubbing straight boundaries, before Head lifted a shortish delivery into the stands beyond cow corner. They plundered 59 in the powerplay.
Though Bangladesh leg spinner Rishad Hossain claimed two wickets in his first two overs, Head and Warner had got Australia well ahead of the required rate.
Enough in the tank before the rain as Australia win by DLS method
Two balls after the powerplay, the players were forced off the field due to rain. Australia were well ahead of the chase at that point but thankfully the rain didn’t last long. Bangladesh were given a ray of hope post resumption as Rishad struck in back-to-back overs to pick the big wickets of Head and Mitchell Marsh.
However, those hopes were quashed immediately by Warner and Maxwell. The duo collected a boundary each off Mustafizur before taking on Rishad for a four and a six. Warner then whipped one past midwicket for another six to bring up his fifty and with that, the rain arrived again – this time finishing the game early for good.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Najmul Hossain Shanto the losing skipper said : The wicket was good, bit slow, but we should have made at least 170. Playing against this team, we should gamble, today Rishad came at 4 to tackle the spinners, he’s a big-hitter but he couldn’t execute that. I’m doing alright so far, enjoying playing here and think I can do a bit more.
It’s very important for the top-order to get runs like we did today, that’s a big boost, hopefully the bowlers will continue their form. Looking for a good show against India in our next match .
Mitchell Marsh the winning skipper said : It was an exciting bowling performance with everyone chipping in. This is a very good playing XI, we spoke before the start to have the team to take us deep into the tournament and have a team based on the conditions and it’s going well.
I’m loving it (on captaincy), great team to lead, great group filled with experience, the support staff have been excellent and the families are here as well. Have another game tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it.
Pat Cummins Player of the Match for his Hattrick said : I had no idea (on the hat-trick), then saw when it came up on the screen. Set batter in, playing the innings, you never know how it’ll go about, so that was a big wicket (on Hridoy’s wicket) and happy to have restricted them. Few (hat-tricks) in juniors, never for Australia.
Agar and Ellis, on the bench, have hat-tricks, joined their club. It’s pretty awesome to tick that off. Good club to be part of. Fairly polished performance, the goal was to win and we did well with the run-rate, we’ll need to continue with the momentum going ahead in the Super 8s
Rain has had the last say and Australia win this Super Eight game by 28 runs (DLS method). The result was never in doubt after they had restricted Bangladesh to a mere 140 in conditions that were good for batting. Pat Cummins’s hat-trick was the show-stealer, but it was a collective bowling effort that kept Bangladesh on the back-foot.
Towhid Hridoy made a 28-ball 40, captain Shanto sparkled with a 36-ball 41, but they were held back by their senior pros who struggled to rotate strike and keep the scorecard ticking. David Warner and Travis Head added 59 in the batting PP, Rishad Hossain struck twice to give his team some hope, but David Warner’s fifty and Maxwell’s touch had Australia well ahead when rain came for the second time. Two points for Australia and they join India at the top of this group.
The result was them stumbling to 140 for 8 from their 20 overs. Although the North Sound pitch was on the slower side, and assisted the spinners, this was always going to be difficult to defend.
David Warner and Travis Head combined to blast 65 for Australia in the first 6.5 overs, and though Bangladesh’s spinners imposed themselves after that, Australia were always cruising. They were 28 runs ahead when showers interrupted play (there had been squalls blowing through all evening).
Bangladesh have little time to recover as they take on India next at the same venue on Saturday. Australia will move to St. Vincent to face Afghanistan. Right, we’ve had our first round of Super Eight fixtures done and it’s the big boys who’re leading their respective groups. The games keep coming and we’ll be back in a few hours from now when England take on South Africa in a blockbuster clash in St. Lucia.