Australia will take on Bangladesh in the fourth match of the Super Eights round of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at North Sound in Antigua. The match will be played on Friday morning as per Indian time, starting at 6 am IST.
The winners of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Australia were one of the unbeaten teams in the competition. They finished with eight points in Group B and topped the group but pre-tournament seedings mean they will play as B2 in the Super Eights.
Bangladesh finished behind South Africa in Group D, winning three of the four games in the first round. It is the first time since the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 that Bangladesh have sealed a Super Eight spot.
What has happened so far?
Australia have had little discomfort in the T20 World Cup thus far, winning four out of four games in Round 1. They started their campaign with a 39-run win against Oman and then took on England in the big game and showed why they should be considered serious contenders during that clash.
Australia posted 201-7 batting first in Barbados, with the openers David Warner and Travis Head giving them a fiery start. They put on 70 runs in just 27 balls before Marcus Stoinis finished off the innings with a 17-ball cameo scoring 30 runs.
England responded with an aggressive opening stand of their own, with in-form Phil Salt making 37 in 23 but the middle-order could not contribute as England ended with 165-6, handing Australia a 36-run win. Australia also went on to defeat Namibia (nine wickets) and Scotland (five wickets) and will enter the next round on a high.
Bangladesh was in a tough group consisting of three Test-playing nations but they made their intentions clear with a clinical win against Sri Lanka in their opening clash, which they won by two wickets.
They then ran South Africa close, narrowly missing out by four runs after a dubious LBW law in ICC’s rulebook. Bangladesh swept aside the Netherlands by 25 runs and Nepal by 21 runs in a virtual knockout to book their spot in the Super Eight.
Head to Head Record
Afghanistan and West Indies have met each other seven times in the shorter format, with Australia winning six and Bangladesh ending as the victorious team on four occasions. Australia has played the Asian team five times in T20 World Cups and possesses a 5-0 record against them. Bangladesh won the only bilateral series between the two sides, in Mirpur in 2021, 4-1.
Australia is the stronger side on paper but the slow conditions will keep Bangladesh in the game.
Key Players
Tanzim Sakib has picked up nine wickets in the T20 World Cup
Marcus Stoinis (Australia): In a competition where batters have struggled for any kind of hitting form, Stoinis stands out with a strike rate of 190.24, the best among all players with at least 50 runs. He has made 156 runs with the help of two fifties, the most in this year’s World Cup, at an average of 78 in only three innings.
Stoinis has also been crucial with the ball, getting six scalps in nine overs that he has sent down. He averages 8.66 with the ball and has an economy rate of 5.77, making him extremely valuable.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib (Bangladesh): The slow left-arm orthodox bowler has arguably been the find of the T20 World Cup. With just six T20Is before the competition, Tanzim has proved to be crucial in the middle overs, picking nine wickets in four games, with best figures of 4-7 against Nepal.
He has been unplayable with his variations and stump-to-stump bowling making him a threat. He has an economy rate of 4.80 this World Cup, which suggests how tough it has been to score off him.
Predicted XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh ©, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto ©, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaker Ali, Mahmudullah, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
Prediction
Both teams have different strengths: Australia have arguably the best pace attack in the competition while Bangladesh have a strong spin unit. The batting is where a gulf exists between the two. Australia have packed in several big hitters right from their openers to wicket-keeper Matthew Wade at No.7, with Pat Cummins, at No.8, also capable of hitting sixes.
On the other hand, Bangladesh has a relatively conservative batting unit devoid of stroke-makers, which is where the game could be won or lost.