BANGALORE, Mar 21:
In-from opening batsman Usman Khawaja struck an impressive half century as Australia overcame a mighty scare due to a middle-order batting collapse to eventually beat Bangladesh by three wickets and bounce back in their World Twenty20 campaign here today.
Australia, who needed to win today to remain in contention after losing to New Zealand in their lung opener, were cruising along nicely before suffering a batting collapse and they had to scamper at the end to chase down the target of 157 with nine balls to spare at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
With the win today, Australia collected two points to remain in contention for a semifinal berth while a winless Bangladesh found themselves on the brink of elimination.
Australia were well placed at 95 for one in the 12th over when captain Steven Smith (14) was bowled by a fine delivery from Mustafizur Rahman and that opened the floodgates and gave a chance for Bangladesh to come back into the match.
From there, they lost six wickets in 6.3 overs for the addition of 57 runs as Australia put themselves in trouble from a seemingly comfortable position. Their brisk rate of scoring before the batting collapse saved them from a possible defeat as they huffed and puffed to their first win of the tournament.
Khawaja was out two overs after Smith’s departure as he was bowled by Al-Amin Hossain after making a fine 58 which came from 45 balls and studded with seven fours and one six.
David Warner (17) hit Mahmudullah for a four and a six in consecutive deliveries in the 13th over but gave away his wicket in the 15th over, caught and bowled by Shakib Al Hasan. (PTI)
Today’s Fixture
New Zealand Vs Pakistan (Mohali ) 7:30 PM
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh innings:
Mohammad Mithun c Watson b Zampa 23
Soumya Sarkar c Maxwell b Watson 1
Sabbir Rahman c Faulkner b Watson 12
Shakib Al Hasan c Coulter-Nile b Zampa 33
Shuvagata Hom lbw b Zampa 13
Mahmudullah not out 49
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 15
Extras (LB-7, W-3) 10
Total (5 wickets in 20 overs) 156
Bowling: NM Coulter-Nile 4-0-21-0, SR Watson 4-0-31-2, JW Hastings 3-0-24-0, MR Marsh 1-0-12-0, GJ Maxwell 1-0-12-0, A Zampa 4-0-23-3, JP Faulkner 3-0-26-0.
Australia innings
UT Khawaja b Al-Amin Hossain 58
SR Watson run out (S. Rahman/†M. Rahim) 21
SPD Smith* b Mustafizur Rahman 14
DA Warner c & b Shakib Al Hasan 17
GJ Maxwell st †M. Rahim b Shakib Al Hasan 26
MR Marsh c Shakib Al Hasan b M. Rahman 6
JP Faulkner not out 5
JW Hastings c S Sarkar b Shakib Al Hasan 3
PM Nevill† not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total (7 wickets; 18.3 overs) 157
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 1-0-9-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-22-0, Al-Amin Hossain 2-0-14-1, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-30-2, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-27-3, Saqlain Sajib 3.3-0-40-0, Shuvagata Hom 2-0-13-0
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