They had a tough time in the ODIs, however, the T20I series has begun on the right note for the visitors. Remember, they are chasing a bit of history here — Australia have never won a T20I series on the Bangladeshi soil. This win leaves them in a good stead though.
The 2nd of the 3 matches will be played on June 19, Friday, at the same venue. Will Bangladesh be able to bounce back? Or will the Aussies seal the series? We will find out together.
For now, it is Darpan Tikiya saying goodbye on the behalf of Ninaad Dixit, Deepak Prakash, Aman and Yogesh Kumar. Keep following CREX for more cricketing action from around the world. Sayonara!
Mitchell Marsh (Australia Captain): [on the win] "Always nice to start a series with a win. Specially a 3-match series. Good start from the boys.
[on the spinners] We probably were a little bit surprised with the lack of pace and bounce in the wicket. We picked a really well-rounded team that if it went that direction, we had heaps of cover. 2 debutant chipping in with some really nice bowling. Allround was really good performance. Could have been a pretty tricky chase.
[on Connolly] Coops had a tase of international cricket over the last 12 months. He's only gonna continue to grow and get better the more comfortable he feels. It's great to see him bat on what was a reasonably tricky batting wicket."
Adam Zampa: "(On picking up 150 T20I wickets) Feels good. It means that I have been around for a long time. Proud achievement, especially in this kind of a game. We had a tough time in the ODIs. Some young guys have come in. It feels like they are at home in the team. Feels good.
(On the nature of the pitch and his plans) Based on the information relayed to me, the pitch was a bit dull. The ball was not quite coming onto the bat when our quicks bowled and it was not easy to hit uppishly. So I just tried to use that information to my advantage."
Player of the Match: Adam Zampa
Towhid Hridoy (Bangladesh Captain): [what went wrong] "As a batting unit, we failed today. Hopefully we will overcome here. We know what kind of mistakes we did. Next game it will be overcome.
[on the batting] We lost back-to-back wickets and failed to build partnerships. It will be overcome.
[on the surface] It was pretty good to bat.
[on the total] As a batting unit we should have scored 170/180. The bowling unit has done well every game."
4:47 PM IST, 5:17 PM IST: Australia win by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare. They go 1-0 up in the 3-match series.
The ODI series might have been a forgettable one for the visitors, however, the T20Is have begun on the right note. Remember, the Aussies are chasing a little bit of history — they have never won a T20I series on Bangladeshi soil.
Today, their bowlers set it up. Joel Davies, on debut, picked up 3/17. Adam Zampa kept it tight and registered 3/18. Matt Renshaw continued to enhance his reputation as an off-spinner and even the other debutant Nikhil Chaudhary got a wicket to his name.
Post winning the toss and electing to bat first, the hosts got off to a decent start, riding on Saif Hassan's 14-ball-20. However, post his dismissal, Bangladesh's innings moved along like an old, broken-down car that stuttered at every kilometre of the way. If not for Mahedi Hasan's pugnacious cameo of 29* (22), they might not have even got to 131.
Yes, it was an under-par total and Australia were even expected to chase it down on a canter, especially after Cooper Connolly's authoritative knock of 47 (27). The southpaw carried on from where he had left in the 3rd ODI and put on display one cracking shot after the other, all whilst radiating nothing but supreme confidence. At 78/3, when Connolly got dismissed, the Aussies were in the driver's seat. However, Bangladesh picked up wickets and tightened the screws in the second half of the run chase to make it tough. However, they were always fighting a losing battle.
Debutant Abdul Gaffar Saqlain picked up 2 wickets, while all other frontline bowlers got one apiece. Xavier Bartlett hit the winnings runs.
OVER 19
Australia
133/6
Xavier Bartlett
4(1)
Joel Davies
7(6)
Abdul Gaffar Saqlain
2-32(3.2)
18.2 Abdul Gaffar Saqlain to Xavier Bartlett
4 FOUR RUNS! Bartlett finishes the game off first ball! Good length delivery outside the off stump. Stands tall and punches right off the middle of the bat. Hits it in the gap between extra cover and mid off. The ball races away to the fence.