Australia looks to press reset button against Bangladesh

Group A:Australia v Bangladesh
Date: Monday, June 5 2017
Venue: The Oval, London

HEAD-TO-HEAD
20 Matches; Australia 18; Bangladesh 1; No Result 1

THE FORM
The nature of the tournament is such that after just one game in for both sides, it’s a virtual knockout for both Australia and Bangladesh. Bangladesh comes into this game after missing out on a decent opportunity to cause an upset in its first game against England. Australia, in its captain’s own words, “got away” as rain in Birmingham gave it a no-result against New Zealand.

Australia looked rusty in its opening game but if Steven Smith’s men think Bangladesh will be the easy opponent to get some momentum going against, it may be in for a surprise. Australia has lost only one ODI to Bangladesh in 20 matches between the sides, but its last completed game was way back in 2011. Bangladesh is no longer the same side, as many opponents are finding out these days.

It means Australia will have to improve upon its last outing. It bowled New Zealand out for 291 in 45 overs, but Smith was critical of his bowlers. Josh Hazlewood was excellent and picked up a six-for, but Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and John Hastings were far from on the spot consistently enough.

In the nine overs that Australia batted, it lost David Warner, Aaron Finch and Moises Henriques before rain bailed them out.

Interestingly, Bangladesh, too, did pretty well to post 305 against England but its inability to get some late flourish let them down. It was around 20-30 runs short on a flat Oval track, which meant England coasted to an easy win.

THE CONDITIONS
Saturday’s game between South Africa and Sri Lanka saw slightly fewer runs than in recent times at The Oval as it was played on a relaid track. Australia and Bangladesh will play on the same pitch, which means it could assist some spin, which might cause Bangladesh to switch to playing five bowlers instead of the extra batsman it opted for in the first game, while Australia could give Adam Zampa a go instead of one of the faster men.

THE MATCH-UP
Tamim Iqbal v Mitchell Starc
Tamim Iqbal has scored five centuries in ODIs over the last two years – one more than he did in his first eight years. The left-handed opener has been Bangladesh’s stalwart and it’s not just coincidence that his form has been concurrent with Bangladesh’s rise. Unlike in the past, Tamim has begun converting starts and has now progressed from promising hitter to consistent and responsible accumulator. It came to the fore in Bangladesh’s first game against England when he made 128 – his second consecutive century in England this tour.

Converting starts, though, might not be easy against Australia for it has terrific pacers led by Mitchell Starc. Coming back after an injury layoff, Starc wasn’t at his best and went wicketless against New Zealand. But it takes only a yorker or two to turn that around. Their duel at the top could well play a big part in the outcome of the game.

THE WILDCARDS
BANGLADESH: Soumya Sarkar
Soumya Sarkar is where Tamim was a few years ago – getting starts, showing promise, but not carrying on. In 27 ODI innings, he has 15 scores in excess of 20 but only one century and six fifties. He did exactly that against England when he coasted to 28 before softly slashing one to the deep. Sarkar could well learn a thing or two from his opening partner – can he do that by Monday?

AUSTRALIA: Pat Cummins
Raw pace – that’s what Pat Cummins has. And that’s something that Bangladesh has historically not enjoyed fronting up to. Cummins had a forgettable outing against New Zealand, conceding 67 runs for one wicket in nine overs, but that’s not due to lack of form. He made a successful comeback to the Test team in the India tour and followed it up with a good Indian Premier League season. Express pace can be a boon or a bane, especially on flat pitches. Which Cummins will turn up against Bangladesh?

WATCH OUT FOR…
Shakib Al Hasan has had a quiet build up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, with a high score of 19 since landing in Ireland before the tournament. In the five matches since then, Shakib has got only three wickets with the pitches not exactly suiting his style of bowling. But he isn’t the world’s top-ranked all-rounder across all formats for nothing.

TEAMS
Australia: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan Miraj, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sanzamul Islam, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.