A confident Bangladesh will play against a dominant Australians on Thursday at Trent Bridge. Australia has won 4 out of 5 games they played but they should be cautious against Bangladesh who is high on confidence after their spectacular win against West Indies.
Australia’s only problem in the tournament is their middle order, which is somehow not able to score runs even after the top 3 gave them several good starts. As per Haddin, they are still looking for the best combination for Thursday’s match.
As per the coach, Justin Langer, 4 pacers will play in the XI, with Maxwell and Finch to take care in the spin department. Despite failing in a number of occasions Khawaja is set to play against Bangladesh as the team management still trusts in his ability to score runs for Australia.
Bangladesh has uplifted their game on the world stage, being the number 5 team in the points table, they are capable to reach the semis of this tournament. Their batsmen are in great form and bowlers doing the job perfectly well for them. The only concern is their fielding and its high for them to improve at this stage of the tournament.
Bangladesh has only one win against Australia in ODIs and yet to open an account against them in a World Cup clash. This could be their day of creating history.
There will be sunny spells and a gentle to the moderate breeze during the day at Trent Bridge.
Players to watch out
Aaron Finch, the leading run scorer for Australia in this World Cup. He was struggling with form during the ODI series in India but since then he has not only got his form back but also won almost every game for Australia. He will be looking for scoring another hundred on the batting track of Trent Bridge.
Liton Das played a flamboyant knock of 94 runs against West Indies which made it possible for Bangladesh to chase down the target of 322 in 41 overs. Along with Shakib and Rahim, he can play little cameos in middle and last overs to keep the run rate above 6 an over.
Australia v Bangladesh in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 20, Australia Won 18, Bangladesh Won 1, No Result 1
World Cup: Matches 2, Australia Won 2, Bangladesh Won 0
Recent Form (most recent first): Australia W W L W W, Bangladesh W NR L L W
ICC Rankings: Australia (5), Bangladesh (8)
Upcoming Records:
Shakib Al Hasan has scored 924 runs in World Cup and needs 76 more to become the first Bangladesh player to reach the 1,000 runs milestone.
Pat Cummins has taken 93 wickets and needs 7 more to become the seventeenth Australian player to reach the 100 ODI wickets milestone.
Squads:
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
