4.30 pm That's that then. Bangladesh's apology of a World Cup campaign comes to an end. I am sure there will be a lot of hand-wringing and ramifications once the team returns home, but changes rarely happen unless the leadership at the top keeps their ego aside and has a hard look at themselves. Australia will be more than pleased with how things have unfolded today. Their fate rests pretty much in their own hands. We will have Sri Lanka against West Indies in about half an hour on our site. For the moment, this is Debayan Sen, on behalf of Andrew McGlashan and Chandan Duorah, bidding adieu and looking forward to your company for the remaining games of this hectic week that remains!
Jeff: " "Try some sudoku until then?"Sudoku is so pre-Covid, Futoshiki is Sudoku in lockdown" --- Thanks. Will definitely look this up!
Geoff Waddell: "England could throw the game against SA and put Australia out of the semis." --- I think the theories might be getting a bit out of hand.
Aaron Finch: "Really clinical performance. Mitchell Starc set the tone and Hazlewood followed with that in the second over. We thought we would take the opportunity to win big if we got the chance, but you can't plan for that. At the half-way mark, we knew (we could get past South Africa). When you have that opportunity, you have to take it. (Starc) We saw some swing in the first over. When he's back to his best, that happens early. Zampa's 5 for 19 was outstanding. (On whether he will support England for their game against South Africa) Don't know if we ever are! We have to play well against West Indies. We have a couple of days to recharge and then a couple of days to practise."
Mahmudullah: "When you have these sort of performances, it is hard to say much. There are a lot of areas we have to look at, especially our batting. The wickets that we have played on have been among the best for batting. We have to figure out what went wrong when we go back to Bangladesh. T20 cricket you have to have a good powerplay, especially when we don't have so-called hard hitters. You need that momentum to carry forward, but we haven't done that at all. (On the preparation for this World Cup) The thing is before playing in the World Cup, we had to get some wins under our belt. As professional cricketers, you have to adapt to all conditions. But we have lacked awareness as a unit, and we have to pick up on that. If you see, in the Super 12s, we came close to closing two games against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Other than that, we have been outplayed by the opposition. I hope the supporters keep supporting us."
Ashwath : "For all the talk on Australia improving their nrr and having to beat WI are we forgetting that SA is up against England" --- True. I did mention on comms yesterday that I have a feeling SA might win that one. But let's see anyway.
Markram: "WI 55, Bang 84 and 73, the associate countries dont need to feel terrible about getting bowled out for low scores sometimes..happens to all teams! India included.." --- Yes, and I think there's no denying the Associate members have done enough to warrant a serious re-think about putting them into qualifiers in World Cups. I think they all deserve to get a fair crack at the main stages.
Mubashir Abbasi: "What do i do now? I'm in quarantine due to testing positive and the live match is over. CRICINFO HELP?? Good to be in quarantine and have time off from work here in England and watch the T20WC. " --- Commentary for Sri Lanka v West Indies in just about 40 minutes. Try some sudoku until then?
Adam Zampa is the player of the match: "First fifer is always a nice feeling. Playing for 5-6 overs and nice to get one. (On the hat-trick) I had three overs between that ball and the next one, I don't know if anybody else knew. But I think I wouldn't have had as many wickets as I do had it not been for Wadey's hands. I think the quicks have been quite difficult to score off in the powerplay. Guys like Maxwell have also bowled really well. Teams are coming harder during the middle overs, so that gives wicket-taking opportunities for guys like Adil Rashid and me. My job is to take wickets through the middle, and that doesn't change (if Ashton Agar is also picked). Sometimes you bowl in the powerplay sometimes at the backend. Today was just about wickets. We wanted to chase down whatever they posted."
4.15 pm Thanks Andrew. This has been one helluva shellacking. And for a day match, Bangladesh can't even talk about a great difference in the conditions.
Australia win by eight wickets with 82, yes 82, balls to spare and their net run-rate will get a heck of a kick. That's a statement performance from them, albeit against a woeful Bangladesh. We'll have the exact numbers confirmed for you shortly. Comfortably Australia's biggest win, in terms of balls remaining, in T20Is. Awful Super 12s campaign for Bangladesh. They have some thinking to do. Australia's NRR up to 1.03 now. Perfect day for them. I'll hand back to Debayan for the post-match.
Glenn Maxwell the new batter. Can they finish it this over? Taskin for his last
END OF OVER:6 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | AUS: 67/2 (7 runs required from 14 overs, RR: 11.16, RRR: 0.50)
- Mitchell Marsh6 (3b)
- Shoriful Islam1-0-9-1
- Taskin Ahmed3-0-25-1
DA Warner b Shoriful Islam 18 (33m 14b 3x4 0x6) SR: 128.57
Free hit
Mitchell Marsh at No. 3...remember 8.1 overs the key figure. Stephen: "All for nought if Australia loses to the West Indies" Well, yes, but they've had to win two games regardless
END OF OVER:5 | 14 Runs 1 Wkt | AUS: 58/1 (16 runs required from 15 overs, RR: 11.60, RRR: 1.06)
- David Warner16 (10b)
- Taskin Ahmed3-0-25-1
- Mustafizur Rahman2-0-32-0
AJ Finch b Taskin Ahmed 40 (27m 20b 2x4 4x6) SR: 200.00
Matthew: "SA will be willing Bangladesh to bowl dot balls...Australia have other ideas for the perennial bridesmaids!"