Australia aim to finish Bangladesh tour on a high

Overview

Bangladesh vs Australia, fifth T20I
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka
9 August, 18:00 local

Batting has been extremely difficult on tour with only two batsmen scoring in excess of 100 runs in the four games so far. One of them is Mitchell Marsh, who has been a revelation since being promoted to No.3 in the batting order. Another good performance with the bat would make it difficult for Australian selectors to ignore his name for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad.

Captain Matthew Wade has already hinted that Australia might go with three spinners in the final game, which would probably see Adam Zampa return to the playing XI.

Bangladesh too are likely to make changes to their XI, having gone unchanged throughout the series. With the series wrapped up, the Tigers would want to test their bench strength ahead of the mega-event later this year.

Remember the last time

Australia won their first game of the series in the fourth T20I by three wickets.

On a slow and sluggish Sher-e-Bangla pitch, Bangladesh managed to get only 104/9 in their 20 overs, thanks to some impetus from Afif Hossain and Mahedi Hasan in the second half of the innings. With Zampa rested, Mitchell Swepson made an instant impact playing his first game of the series, returning figures of 3/12 in four overs.

As has been the case throughout the series, Australian batters struggled against the Bangladesh spinners and the wily Mustafizur Rahman. Promoted up the order, Daniel Christian's 15-ball 39 proved to be the game-changer for the visitors; 30 of those runs came in one over where he smashed Shakib Al Hasan for five sixes.

After his wicket, Australia went from 49/3 to 65/6 before a solid run-a-ball 27 from Ashton Agar took them home with an over to spare.

What they said:

Matthew Wade (Australia captain):"It's not that we are batting that poorly, even they are struggling. But we'll get one more opportunity to put a score out there next game, both personally and as a team. The bowlers have obviously dominated in this series. You're looking to get quick 30s and quick 40s. We may play three spinners next game."

Mahmudullah (Bangladesh captain): "As a batting unit, we needed to be cautious and sensible. Tonight's wicket was the toughest to bat on. We need to look forward and maximize our batting order. Shakib's over was the crucial one. Dan Christian changed the scenario. It can happen in a T20 game. Shakib though is a champion bowler."