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Advantage To Bangladesh Against Australia

Saleque Sufi  | banglanews24.com
Update: 2021-08-06 14:44:29
Advantage To Bangladesh Against Australia

Having moved into 2-0 lead after two matches of the much-awaited T20 series Bangladesh is now in an advantageous position of winning their first ever series win. Bangladesh ranks 10th in ICC Ranking and Australia is 5th. Bangladesh has just won their first two matches against Australia in 6 matches. If you think about tiebreaker of a soccer match Bangladesh needs scoring only one goal from three shots while Australia has to win three in three. The way the series has panned out so far Bangladesh has their brightest possibility ever to not only winning the series but also achieving another series whitewash. The third match is starting at SBNCS in few hours from now; the fourth match is scheduled for tomorrow. 

Perhaps it was beyond all imagination in the Australian think tank that Bangladesh could push Australia to the brink in such a clinical manner. Accepting that Warner, Smith, Maxwell, Cummins, Stoinis are not in the team, Australian squad comprises of its frontline bowling attack. All the players play regularly in Bigbash T20 series. This team in West Indies even did not bat and field so poorly. Australia must blame them for the position they are now. The entire team batted and fielded very poorly, proving novice to deal with both pace and spin of Bangladesh bowling. No Australian team in the past fielded so poorly. No other team surrendered any cricket match in the past without fighting to the last.


On the other hand Bangladesh also missed services of senior players Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and inform Liton K Das. The team very successfully held on its winning momentum it gained against Zimbabwe in the recent tour. More importantly younger players playing fearless quality cricket gelled excellently with senior players. On the traditional slow low gripping wicket cutter Master Mustafiz , young talented pacer Shoriful teamed up expertly with crafty Shakib, Nasum and Mehedi. The team fielded brilliantly. Nurul Hasan looked sharp and agile behind the wicket. Off course against very potent Australian attack batting was not that well. Yet the team scored enough to defend in the first match. In the second young Sohan and dynamic rookie Afif bailed the team out from a tight leash batting bravely.

Finally captain Mahmudullah superbly led his charge with diligence. He proved head and shoulder above his counterpart Mathhew Wade. He encouraged his young guns in commiting their best. He also took the right decisions at the right moment making crucial bowling changes, setting the field clinically.

Australia has huge problem. They could neither deal with spins of Shakib, Mehedi and Nasum nor could decode the slow cutters of Cutter Master Mustafiz (the Fizz) on the gripping wicket. None other than Mitchel Marsh looked at all comfortable. The gamble of sending relatively inexperienced team to Bangladesh already proved counter productive.

Today in the very important match it is to be seen whether Bangladesh risks breaking the winning combination. Soumya Sarkar looked out of shorts in the two matches against Starc and Hazelwood. But option remains very limited. Mohammad Mithun is being discussed as possible replacement. But Mithun lacks confidence as he did not score much in Zimbabwe tour .The other possibilities can be promoting Mehedi Hasan and playing Mosaddeq down the order. Or otherwise rely on Soumya for another match.

In any case Bangladesh has set cat in the mouse in the Kangaroo Camp. Their spirit looks low. If they fail to turn around today, countdown would start for a Banglawash after the match today. 

BDST: 1438 HRS, AUG 6, 2021
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