Just a bit of a shower passing through as the innings ends. Another shoddy batting performance from Bangladesh on a surface that they cannot really fault. It seemed like a very decent track, bit of grip for the spinners but the ball did come on fairly well for the most part and Bangladesh, one feels, haven’t got nearly enough. It started with Starc castling Tanzid Hasan in the first over. Shanto looked good today and found some form and he shared a 50-run stand with a very scratchy-looking Litton Das. That didn’t last long after the powerplay as Zampa got into his work and Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Hridoy played really well through the middle but didn’t have anyone for support and a hat-trick from Cummins right at the end ensured Bangladesh couldn’t get up to any antics towards the end.
Hat-tricks in Men’s T20 WC Brett Lee (AUS) vs BAN, Cape Town, 2007 Curtis Campher (IRE) vs NED, Abu Dhabi, 2021 Wanindu Hasaranga (SL) vs SA, Sharjah, 2021 Kagiso Rabada (SA) vs ENG, Sharjah, 2021 Karthik Meiyappan (UAE) vs SL, Geelong, 2022 Joshua Little (IRE) vs NZ, Adelaide, 2022 Pat Cummins (AUS) vs BAN, Antigua, 2024
Australia bowlers with hat-tricks in T20Is Brett Lee vs Bangladesh, Cape Town, 2007 Ashton Agar vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2020 Nathan Ellis vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 2021 Pat Cummins vs Bangladesh, Antigua, 2024
This was the seventh hat-trick against Bangladesh, the most against any team in T20Is; Mahmudullah was involved (dismissed) in three of them, the most for a batter in the format. Mahmudullah, in fact, has now been involved in six hat-tricks in international cricket – thrice in T20Is, twice in ODIs and once in Tests – which is a record.
Adam Zampa: We had the experience of playing here last week. We kinda knew what to expect. The wicket is a little bit different from last time. The odd ball is doing something funny, but generally pretty good wicket. If I don’t feel it (full control of his bowling), at least I try to look like I feel it. The ball feels like it’s coming out nicely at the moment. I work hard behind the scenes with my planning and I get the full backing from the captain and the coach to go out there and get wickets. (Target) It’s definitely gettable if we bat well.
Rain has had the last say and Australia win this Super Eight game by 28 runs (DLS method). The result was never in doubt after they had restricted Bangladesh to a mere 140 in conditions that were good for batting. Pat Cummins’s hat-trick was the show-stealer, but it was a collective bowling effort that kept Bangladesh on the back-foot.Towhid Hridoy made a 28-ball 40, captain Shanto sparkled with a 36-ball 41, but they were held back by their senior pros who struggled to rotate strike and keep the scorecard ticking. David Warner and Travis Head added 59 in the batting PP, Rishad Hossain struck twice to give his team some hope, but David Warner’s fifty and Maxwell’s touch had Australia well ahead when rain came for the second time. Two points for Australia and they join India at the top of this group.
Pat Cummins | Player of the Match – I had no idea (on the hat-trick), then saw when it came up on the screen. Set batter in, playing the innings, you never know how it’ll go about, so that was a big wicket (on Hridoy’s wicket) and happy to have restricted them. Few (hat-tricks) in juniors, never for Australia. Agar and Ellis, on the bench, have hat-tricks, joined their club. It’s pretty awesome to tick that off. Good club to be part of. Fairly polished performance, the goal was to win and we did well with the run-rate, we’ll need to continue with the momentum going ahead in the Super 8s
Najmul Shanto – The wicket was good, bit slow, but we should have made at least 170. Playing against this team, we should gamble, today Rishad came at 4 to tackle the spinners, he’s a big-hitter but he couldn’t execute that. I’m doing alright so far, enjoying playing here and think I can do a bit more. It’s very important for the top-order to get runs like we did today, that’s a big boost, hopefully the bowlers will continue their form. Looking for a good show against India in our next match.
Mitchell Marsh – It was an exciting bowling performance with everyone chipping in. This is a very good playing XI, we spoke before the start to have the team to take us deep into the tournament and have a team based on the conditions and it’s going well. I’m loving it (on captaincy), great team to lead, great group filled with experience, the support staff have been excellent and the families are here as well. Have another game tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it.