Despite being a mismatch on paper, Australia, the reigning T20 World Cup champions, must be cautious when they face Bangladesh in their Super Eight Group 1 match on Friday. While Australia is widely considered the favorite, they can’t afford to underestimate Bangladesh’s potential to cause an upset. The Australian team will remember their 1-4 defeat to Bangladesh in a T20 International series in 2021, a humbling experience that highlights the dangers of complacency. The conditions in this tournament, which closely resemble those in the subcontinent, could further favor Bangladesh.
From an Australian perspective, the match might place added pressure on leg-spinner Adam Zampa and part-timers like Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head. The slow nature of the pitch may prompt Australia to retain left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, a handy batsman, in their lineup after their previous group match against Scotland. Despite the pitch conditions, Australia’s strength lies in their pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood. Cummins and Hazlewood are set to return after sitting out the Scotland match, bolstering an already formidable attack. Adding to their strength, captain Mitchell Marsh has declared himself fit to bowl in the Super Eight stage. “I’ll be available to bowl. With the line-up that we’ve got, I don’t really necessarily see a need for me to bowl. But I think it’s really important in this format to have options and we’re blessed with plenty of those,” said Marsh in a pre-match press conference.
Australia’s batting lineup is just as formidable, boasting a top-six of Head, David Warner, Marsh, Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Tim David. This lineup can challenge any bowling attack in the world. They have consistently contributed runs throughout the tournament and will be aiming for a collective performance in this match.
Bangladesh will rely on their experienced and skilled T20 bowlers, such as Mustafizur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, and Taskin Ahmed, to challenge the Australian batters. However, Bangladesh’s real weakness lies in their batting lineup. Despite possessing experienced players in the T20 format, they haven’t performed well in this tournament. They struggled through the group stage matches, with their highest score being 159 for five against the Netherlands. Their other scores include 125/8 and 109/7, both while chasing against Sri Lanka and South Africa respectively, and 106 while batting first against Nepal. They desperately need to find their rhythm against a formidable opponent like Australia.
