Australia will take on Bangladesh in final T20I of the series to end their disappointing tour on high note.
Match Timings: Aug 09, 5:30 PM IST
Team Preview
Australia and Bangladesh will go head to head for the final time in the T20I series. They will meet in the fifth T20I of the series today. Bangladesh created history last week by beating Aussies in the series. They won the first three games and clinched the series. Bangladesh surprised everyone by clinching the series in the first three games. Australia finally ended the losing streak and won the fourth game by 3 wickets. Australia bowled very well and restricted Bangladesh to just 104. Only bowling is the part where Australia did well.
Australia’s top-order mistakes haunted them throughout the series and this continued in the fourth game as well. They lost their six wickets on just 65 in the 11th over. Bangladesh kept the hopes high in defending this modest total. Daniel Christian smashed 5 sixes and his 15-ball 39 did wonder for Australia in the end. Australia chased down the total with one over left. Bangladesh also struggled with batting but they have managed their top class in this series. Mustafizur did a tremendous job and his skills in pace are outstanding.
Australia now needs to transform the energy for T20 World Cup. They haven’t won back-to-back games in the T20 format in past one year. They are going through their tough phase in the shorter format of cricket. Australia last won a T20I series in South Africa last year. They lost the fifth consecutive T20I series and out of 20 matches, Australia won only six which shows their terrible T20 preparation.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh should take this victory as the best preparation for the upcoming T20 WC. Remember, T20 WC will be played in UAE, and Bangladesh can put them ahead in the contenders. Aussies would look to end the series on a winning note and Bangladesh would look to win another game to make the scoreline 4-1.
Pitch Report
Dhaka’s surface is a tough batting track and we saw the low-scoring games in past one week. The surface is getting slower with each game. It provides the balance between bat and ball. 130-140 would be a formidable total on this track.
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
Mustafizur Rahman
Australia
Mitchell Marsh
Alex Carey
