T20 World Cup: Australia extinguishes Bangladesh improving semifinal chances

T20 World Cup 2021: Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc

T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs Bangladesh: You can’t keep Australia out for long. Having an opportunity to improve their NRR against amorphous Bangladesh, Aussies made it count winning by 8 wickets.

Struggles continue for Bangladesh, who are having a rough phase, only managing to reach 74 runs against mighty Australia. Only three players were able to score double-digit and No player could reach the 20 run mark.

The powerplay was a purgatory phase for Bangladesh. Losing four wickets inside the powerplay and the fifth one on the first ball of the next over. The firework started from the first over when Mitchell Starc cleaned Liton Das with a trademark yorker.

T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs Bangladesh: Adam Zampa and David Warner.
Adam Zampa and David Warner.

The touch was there from Mohammad Naim and an opportunity too to make it count, however, he was dismissed three balls before powerplay by Josh Hazlewood’s accurate bowling. Josh had already found his first wicket in his first over getting Soumya Sarkar cut and bowled.

The skipper Mahmudullah tried to keep his afloat but in the 13th over, Mitchell Starc’s delivery on the leg side gets a tickle and Wade makes no mistake. Another batter to convert to double-digit was Shamim Hossain however he played one too many and was caught behind.

The star of the show was however not the place attack it was Adam Zampa picking up a five-wicket haul. He was brilliant and his puzzles were too much for Bangladesh to solve. He takes the Player of the Match for his astonishing performance.

T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs Bangladesh: Aaron Finch.
Aaron Finch.

Australia just needed the powerplay to finish the innings. Skipper, Aaron Finch, was in a hurry to lead Australia in a comfortable second spot in their group. It was clear for Australia to finish as quickly as possible and it was seen in the field as well.

Although five-time world cup winners were on fire, Bangladesh’s bowling was awful. Keeping it passive and conservative even after having nothing to lose. The intent here matters the most and no one showed it tonight for the Tigers.

The semifinal is now interesting for Group 1 especially. With South Africa and Australia at equal points but now NRR for Aussies is better. While another thing to note is that South Africa has to play against the table topper England.

Watch Australia vs Bangladesh highlight ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs Bangladesh: post match presentation.

Adam Zampa: (Man of the Match)

“It’s been a while playing cricket for Australia and the five-wicket haul has always eluded me, but I am glad to achieve it finally. Wade has been really good during the whole tournament and has helped me a lot with wickets. I am upset about missing out on the Hat-Trick but am very happy with the win above anything.”

Aaron Finch:

“It was a clinical performance and the bowlers were superb with the way they started the proceeding. The coaches did have a conversation about the NRR before the game but the players concentrated on the game. We were aware at the halfway mark of what we needed to do to go over South Africa in terms of NRR. The break after the game against England was a good one and it is good to be back to winning ways.”

Mahmudullah:

“It is difficult to comment after such performances. We have a lot of things to work on especially the batting. We will have a chat back home about the same. It is the powerplay that is crucial in the T20 Matches but we did not make the most of it in their campaign. We got close against Sri Lanks and West Indies, while in the remaining matches we were outplayed by the oppositions. I just wants the fans to back us until the next time.”