Tigers beat Aussies 4-1 in historic win

Tigers beat Aussies 4-1 in historic win

Special Desk :    |    ০৩:৪৯ পিএম, ২০২১-০৮-১০

At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Monday, Bangladesh bowlers dominated Australia's batting order to complete a dominant 60-run victory over the tourists in the fifth and final Twenty20.

In their first match of the series, Mohammad Saifuddin took 3-12 in three overs to bowl out Australia for 62 in 13.4 overs, their lowest total in the format. Shakib Al Hasan starred for Bangladesh with 4-9 from his four overs.

He is the first Bangladeshi cricketer to take more than 100 wickets in international T20 cricket, and he is also the only cricketer to score over 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in the shortest format.

In Australia's batting order, Matthew Wade topped the run-ball scoring chart with 22 and Ben McDermott compiled 17 off 16 balls, while the rest of the lineup didn't make double figures.

With Bangladesh reaching a modest total of 122-8 through the efforts of Mohammad Naim and Mahmudullah, respectively, Mohammad Naim made the highest score of 23 off 23 balls.

Australia's bowlers, led by pacers Nathan Ellis and Daniel Christian who each took two wickets, pulled back Bangladesh after they made a promising start, but in the end, their efforts were for nothing.

With Australia chasing 123, Australia's top-order was challenged by left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who threw opener Christian and Mitchell Marsh back early.

Australia's innings ended at 17-2 in 3.5 overs with Marsh scoring four from a trapped leg before wicket by Australia's batsmen. Marsh had been Australia's most consistent batter. In the third T20, Christian played a whirlwind inning of 39 off 15 balls.

For the third wicket stand, skipper Wade and McDermott added 21 runs but the partnership ended when Shakib rattled the stumps of the former.

Skipper Mahmudullah then sent back McDermott in the ninth over with a simple caught and bowled, which initiated a collapse.

Saifuddin landed a double blow by rattling Alex Carey’s (three) stumps and inducing an edge from Moises Henriques for three, reducing the five-time World Champions to 54-6 in 10.5 overs.

Shakib took three wickets and Saifuddin one more to complete the innings and cap the series. The innings and series ended after Australia scored eight runs in 17 balls.

As Bangladesh batted first, Mahedi Hasan replaced the out-of-form Soumya Sarkar, and the new opening pair got the team off to the best start of the series.

After scoring 42 runs from 4.3 overs, Mahedi skied a ball from Ashton Turner to Ashton Agar for a simple catch and left for 13 off 12 balls.

The scoring rate slowed down after Mahedi’s dismissal as Bangladesh reached just 60-3 in the first half of their innings with Naim and Shakib (11 off 20 balls) also losing their wickets.

Small contributions from skipper Mahmudullah (19) and Soumya (16) gave Bangladesh hopes of posting a decent total in the slow Mirpur track as they reached 102-5 at the end of 15 overs.

But Afif Hossain and Nurul Hasan, who have scored some useful runs late down the order earlier in the series, could only score 10 and eight respectively and the new addition to the team Mosaddek Hossain remained unbeaten on just four off eight balls as the hosts managed just 20 runs of the last 30 balls which proved to be more than sufficient in the end.