Bangladesh, Australia set to clash in first ever bilateral T20I series

Overview

Bangladesh vs Australia, first T20I
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur
3 August, 18:00 local

Australia are without several key players, including David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson and Kane Richardson, all of whom opted-out of the tour while Steve Smith and Aaron Finch are nursing injuries.

Matthew Wade will be standing in as captain for the series and will be hoping that the team can bounce back after the 4-1 loss to West Indies in the T20I series last month.

Bangladesh meanwhile come into the series on the back of a hard-fought 2-1 T20I series win over Zimbabwe. With Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal missing the series, the onus will be on experienced campaigners such as Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar to lead the way against Australia.

Remember the last time

Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets when they faced off in the Super 10 stages of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 in Bangalore.

Batting first, the Bangladesh batsmen faltered early, losing both Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman in the Powerplay. Mohammad Mithun and Shakib steadied the ship with a 37-run stand before Australia's bowlers pegged the batting line-up back.

A late flurry from Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim took Bangladesh to 156/5. Adam Zampa was the pick of the bowlers with 3/23 in four overs.

The Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson put up a 62-run stand and it looked like they would cruise to victory at that stage. Australia were 95/1 in 11.2 overs at one stage, but then almost threw it away after sliding to 135/5. Maxwell's 15-ball 26 proved to be crucial in the end as Australia got across the line with nine balls to spare.

What they said

Russell Domingo (Bangladesh coach): "Obviously, winning is always important. It's a great opportunity for us to try and win a series against Australia; it will do wonders for our confidence. We also want to try and find our best combination (for the T20 World Cup), and playing against Australia will give us that opportunity."

Matthew Wade (stand-in Australia captain): "To go back into the middle order is a challenge I'm excited to do. It doesn't faze me too much, whatever needs to be done. Then once the World Cup comes around, whether that means I go back up the top or stay in the middle order, we aren't 100% sure. The way Mitch has come out and played at No. 3 that's certainly another option for us at the top."