Match Facts
Who: Australia v Bangladesh
When: Friday June 21. Coin toss at 10am AEST, first ball at 10.30am AEST (Thursday June 20, 8.30pm local time)
Where: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
How to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Officials: Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough (standing), Kumar Dharmasena (third), Adrian Holstock (fourth)
Live scores: Australia v Bangladesh match centre
The squads
Australia: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short
Australia got Ashton Agar into the tournament during the win over Scotland, their 13th player used in this T20 World Cup. There are no serious injuries to report, Mitch Marsh is edging closer to bowling again and Marcus Stoinis admitted he was a little sore during the Scotland game and hence, did not bowl, but is fine to play against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Reserves: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud
While his bowlers have been firing, Bangladesh captain Najmul Shanto admitted after the win over Nepal that he is concerned about his side’s batting after a hit-and-miss group stage. “It’s a matter of concern,” Shanto said. “These mistakes are happening again and again. But I can say that I hope that we can reduce these mistakes in the next round.”
What does Super Eight mean?
It’s the next stage of the tournament – we started with 20 teams and now we’re down to eight. The top two teams from the four groups of five have been split into two: the imaginatively named Group 1 and Group 2.
Australia are in Group 1 and if they finish as one of the top two sides after the next three matches, they will qualify for the semi-finals.
21 June: v Bangladesh, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST
23 June: v Afghanistan, Arnos Vale Ground, St Vincent, 10.30am AEST
25 June: v India, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST
How to watch
It’s a new era for watching World Cup cricket in Australia.
All 55 matches of the tournament will be shown live on Amazon’s Prime Video online subscription streaming service after the internet giant recently acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for the next four years. There is no free-to-air Australian broadcast of this World Cup as a result.
You can sign up to Prime Video by clicking here.
How to recap
Everything you could need will be right here on cricket.com.au.
We’ll have a live blog in play during the match, so even if you miss some live play you can catch up on the big moments as they happened.
Interviews, highlights and the Unplayable Podcast will all review what took place and keep you informed on the key takeaways.
Local knowledge
A couple of teams have been completely blasted out in Antigua (Namibia’s 72 against Australia and Oman’s 47 against England) which is why the average score batting first here is so low.
The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium wicket has decent bounce for this part of the world, and after the Aussies routed the Namibians, their batters needed only 5.4 overs to get the runs.
There’s been a decent amount of rainfall in Antigua over recent days, including during the England-Namibia match, and although there is next to nothing on the forecast for match day, history tells us that’s not a reliable indicator.
Possible starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
“Once we get to the Super Eights, I don’t think there will be any resting.” That was Pat Cummins, the day before he sat out Australia’s final group match against Scotland. He and Josh Hazlewood should come back into the XI to front up on a wicket that last time around offered them a bit more zip than Barbados and Trinidad.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman
Bangladesh have kept their XI extremely settled throughout their four matches so far, making just one change to their line up so far. That change was Jaker Ali coming into the middle order at the expense of the experienced Soumya Sarkar after the win over Sri Lanka. The pace trio of Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all fit and firing while the spin will come from veteran leftie Shakib Al Hasan and leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.
Players to watch
Mitch Marsh’s last innings against Bangladesh was his monstrous 177no in a big run chase in Pune during last year’s ODI World Cup. The Australian captain hasn’t quite hit his straps like most of his teammates just yet in this tournament, but a hit out against a favourite opponent could be just the ticket for the powerful allrounder.
Shakib Al Hasan is Bangladesh’s match-winner but Mustafizur Rahman is their barometer. When he bowls well, Bangladesh win more often than not. Take these stats for example: he averages 12.97 at an economy rate of 6.53 in victories compared to 37.42 and 8.14 in losses. He has a good record against Australia and has been enjoying the bowler-friendly wickets of this World Cup taking seven wickets at an economy rate of only 3.37.
Recent form
Past 10 T20 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: WWWWWWLWW
Australia’s four-game winning streak to begin the World Cup has them sitting as one of the form teams of the tournament and many experts’ pick for the title. Their only loss in their past 10 matches was the dead-rubber T20 against West Indies in Perth in February.
Bangladesh: WWLWWLLLWW
A pre-World Cup series loss (1-2) to the USA was a shaky start to Bangladesh’s time in the western hemisphere, however the Tigers have turned it around beautifully on some dicey American pitches. They don’t mind winning ugly – they began with a spicy two-wicket win over archrivals Sri Lanka and successfully defended scores against Netherlands (by 24 runs) and Nepal (by 21 runs), while just falling short (by four runs) to South Africa.
World Cup standings
Australia’s superb net run rate of 2.79 from the group stage has been erased and they will start on a clean slate alongside their Group 1 rivals, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India.
Last time they met
Australia’s most recent meeting with Bangladesh in this format came during the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai. The Aussies rolled the Tigers for 73, giving them a big boost in the net run-rate stakes which allowed Australia to pip South Africa for a semi-final berth.
Only three months before that, Bangladesh hosted Australia for five T20s in Mirpur, with the hosts winning 4-1.
Head-to-head
Played: 10
Australia wins: 6
Bangladesh wins: 4
Rapid stats
- Tanzim Hasan Sakib has been a threat with the new ball through the group stage, taking seven Powerplay wickets, tied with Afghanistan’s Fazal Farooqi for the most in the first six over of the innings.
- Marcus Stoinis (10) and Travis Head (9) both sit in the top five for most sixes at the T20 World Cup, with Tawhid Hridoy (6) the best from Bangladesh.
- Matthew Wade (1153) is sitting in 12th place for most runs by a wicketkeeper in men’s T20s – he needs another 77 to reach the top 10, which would see him overtake Bangladesh legend Mushfiqur Rahim.
- Mustafizur Rahman’s 67 dot balls is the most of any bowler during the group stage, tied with New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson.
Where to next?
Australia have just one day’s break before they meet Afghanistan in St Vincent and the Grenadines while Bangladesh also have a short turnaround but stay in Antigua to play India on Saturday morning (local time).
Australia’s Group B fixtures
June 6: Beat Oman by 39 runs
June 9: Beat England by 36 runs
June 12: Beat Namibia by nine wickets
June 16: Beat Scotland by five wickets
Super Eight fixtures
21 June: v Bangladesh, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST
23 June: v Afghanistan, Arnos Vale Ground, St Vincent, 10.30am AEST
25 June: v India, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST
Semi-finals to follow if Australia qualify
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