Taking three bitter defeats in their stride, Australia finally posted a victory in the T20I series against Bangladesh this Saturday (August 7), winning by three wickets in Dhaka. The visitors did suffer a few hiccups along the way but ultimately managed to sneak through to a morale-boosting win.
Exceptional bowling performances from the likes of Josh Hazlewood (2/24), Mitchell Swepson (3/12) and Andrew Tye (3/18) helped Australia restrict Bangladesh to just 104 off their 20 overs at the cost of nine wickets. The hosts opted to bat first after winning the toss on another dry, slow surface at the Shere Bangla, hoping that they could put the tourists under pressure in the second half, but they eventually had to settle with a below-par score.
Only three of their batsmen Mohammad Naim (28), Afif Hossain (20) and Mahedi Hasan (23), reached past 20, while the rest of the batting unit failed to get going. The home team’s struggles with the bat can be gauged by the fact that even two of their best – Shakib Al Hasan (15 off 26) and skipper Mahmudullah (0) – weren’t able to take the game back to the opposition.
Shakib, usually in command with the bat and with the ball for Bangladesh, had a miserable outing on the night. After a poor innings in the first half, he was taken for plenty in the second, especially by No.3 Daniel Christian, who smashed him for five sixes in an over. Shakib had no answers to the onslaught by the right-hander, as he helped Australia maximise the powerplay restrictions with an innings of 39 off 15 balls. Shakib ended the day with figures of 0/50 off his 4 overs.
Even though the Aussie middle to lower order stuttered along the way, the brilliant knock from Christian ensured that there wasn’t an opening big enough for Bangladesh to really make a match out of it. Ashton Agar was the second-highest run-scorer for the tourists with a run-a-ball 27, allowing his team to reach home with an over to spare.
Apart from Shakib, who had one rare off day in both the departments, the rest of the Bangladeshi attack retained their form and rhythm from earlier matches. Mahedi Hasan (2/17), Mustafizur Rahman (2/9) and Nasum Ahmed (1/17) were miserly and among the wickets as well, but they didn’t have enough runs to bowl with.
However, despite the loss, Bangladesh have an unassailable 3-1 lead heading into the fifth and final T20I on Monday, August 9.
Brief scores
Bangladesh 104/9 in 20 overs (Mohammad Naim 28, Mahedi Hasan 23; Mitchell Swepson 3/12, Andrew Tye 3/18) lost to Australia 105/7 in 19 overs (Dan Christian 39, Ashton Agar 27; Mustafizur Rahman 2/9, Mahedi Hasan 2/17) by 3 wickets.
