Bangladesh will take on Australia in the second game of the 5-match T20I series to eye a back-to-back win.
Match Timings: Aug 04, 5:30 PM IST
Team Preview
Bangladesh is hosting Australia in the T20I series and both sides will play another T20 on consecutive days. Hosts made a promising start to the series and won their first-ever T20I series against Aussies. This is also the first-ever bilateral T20I series for both sides. Bangladesh were coming off a Zimbabwe series and they won both ODI and T20I series. They troubled Australia with smart bowling and defended a modest total in the opening game.
Australia bowled very well and restricted the Asian side to 131. Their pace duo Starc and Hazlewood shared 5 wickets together. Australia failed to deliver with the bat and kept losing regular wickets. Marsh scored 45 but he didn’t get support from another end. Nasum Ahmed picked a 4-wicket haul. Mustafizur and Islam picked two wickets each.
Aussies are missing their key players in the batting lineup. Bangladesh series will give them a good way of preparation for T20 WC. Mitchell Marsh is going through a dream phase and he is delivering in every game. He was the leading run-scorer for the side and he was crucial with bowling as well. Top-order also needs to score runs. Australia can make changes in their XI and few players have the final opportunity to prove themselves.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh are boosted after their maiden T20I win over Australia. They beat Aussies in 2017 in Tests and their first ODI victory came in England when they beat Australia in Cardiff. It was a historic win for them but they would look to extend this winning run. Hosts missed Tamim Iqbal and Rahim at the top-order. They failed to capitalize against Australia’s pace-attack. Bowling was their concern but they proved their worth in the last game by defending a small total. Aussies can bounce back this time if the toss goes in their favour.
Pitch Report
Dhaka’s surface will taste the caliber of batsmen. It provides the balance between bat and ball. Pacers will take advantage of the new ball. It would be another low-scoring game. 150 would be a strong total on this track. Chasing would be slightly tougher.
Possible XI
Bangladesh
Mohammad Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hossain, Nasum Ahmed , Mustafizur, Shoriful Islam
Australia
Matthew Wade (c & wk), Josh Philippe, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Moises Henriques, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Josh Hazlewood
Key Players
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan
Mahedi Hasan
Australia
Mitchell Marsh
M Starc
