ANTIGUA: Tournament heavyweights Australia have moved a win closer to the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup, overpowering Bangladesh in a shortened clash in Antigua. Australians have picked up a significant Super Eight victory to edge closer to T20 World Cup knockout round.
Bangladesh and Australia were eyeing off a positive start in second round of the mega event. Wet weather eventually drew early curtains at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, but not before Aussie produced a moment in the field he’ll never forget.
Mitchell Starc was the man, collecting an early breakthrough by bowling Tanzin Hasan with the third ball of the innings. In doing so, he moved past Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga into outright first for wickets in World Cups – both T20I and ODIs. The Aussies kept it tight enough, but the batting team of Liton Das and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto lifted the Tigers back into a good position.
Aussie Pat Cummins took two quick scalps to end Australia’s 18th over and then eliminated Hridoy upon return to start over 20, completing the event’s first hat-trick. It capped off a strong fightback for Aussie Pat Cummins with the ball, finishing with figures of 29/3 off his four overs. He becomes the second Australian to take a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup match, after Brett Lee pulled one off in 2007 — also unexpectedly against Bangladesh.
Hridoy’s 40 off 28 balls was a handy contribution, though, helping steer Bangladesh to a total of 140, for the loss of 8 wickets.
Australian openers David Warner and Travis Head began the chase with a ruthless approach, going after the Bangladesh attack. They raced away and reaching the 50 mark to start the 6th over. A Warner maximum ended Australia’s Powerplay with the side at 60/0. Game then stopped, as another shower arrived, with Australian in control.
After a minor delay, Bangladesh struck rapidly, eliminating in-form hitter Head then Marsh was out swiftly, handing the underdogs some much-needed drive.
But Maxwell’s arrival instantly overturned the entire script, turning it on with Warner to push the Australians past 100, right as another dose of rain arrived. This time rain proved more thorough than the others, with play finally abandoned.
The Australian sealed a first-up Super Eight victory, finishing 28 runs ahead of par, via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method.
Australia and India are now both in main positions to progress to the knockout stage, while Bangladesh will need win against both Afghanistan and India to give themselves a genuine chance.
