Australia 78 for 2 (Finch 40) beat Bangladesh 73 all out (Zampa 5-19, Hazlewood 2-8, Starc 2-21) by eight wickets
It was deja vu all over again for Bangladesh. If it was South Africa in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, it was Australia in Dubai on Thursday, and the punishment on this occasion was even more severe. Sent in to bat, Bangladesh were bowled out for 73, their fourth sub-100 total of the year in T20Is, and their second of the tournament.
It was the result of some superb bowling - particularly from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood early on and then from Adam Zampa, who polished off the lower order to pick up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is - but the batting was quite dire for most part too. There was a sense that Bangladesh simply sleepwalked their way to their doom, with a number of their top-order batters getting out to shots of imprecise intent, neither attacking nor defensive.
Having started the day with a net run rate that was worse than South Africa's by more than a run per over, Australia suddenly had a chance to leapfrog their nearest rivals in a tight semi-finals race. They began their chase knowing that they'd leapfrog South Africa's NRR if they won in 8.1 overs or less. And their captain Aaron Finch brought to this task exactly the intent that was required. It was a slog a ball, virtually, and although there were a number of swings and misses, he also connected enough to slap his way to 40 off 20 balls. That innings set the tone as Australia romped home in 6.2 overs, leaving a massive 82 balls to spare.
With that performance, Australia moved to second on the Group 1 table, equal on points with South Africa but with a superior net run rate - 1.031 to their 0.742. Both teams have a tricky final group game on Saturday; Australia take on West Indies, who may or may not still be in contention by then, and South Africa meet the group's runaway leaders England.
Bangladesh were dismissed for 73 by Australia
Starc, Hazlewood crash through top order
Starc began the match with three attempted yorkers aimed at the stumps. Mohammad Naim blocked the first one and inside-edged the second to fine leg for a single. The third angled across the right-handed Liton Das before swinging in late. Das pushed at it with an open face, looking for a single into the covers, and inside-edged into his stumps.
That set the tone for Bangladesh's top-order collapse, as two more wickets fell to strike-rotating attempts in the next two overs. Soumya Sarkar played on to Hazlewood while looking to steer him to third man, then Mushfiqur Rahim was lbw while looking to work Glenn Maxwell into the leg side. Bangladesh 10 for 3.
The Adam Zampa show
By the time the powerplay ended, Bangladesh had lost another wicket, Hazlewood's extra bounce cramping Naim into a miscued pull in the sixth over. Thereafter, it was all Zampa.
He struck with his first ball, and the mode of dismissal - a wrong'un floated across the left-handed Afif Hossain and finding his edge - repeated itself two more times with slight differences in the variation out of the hand or the length. Zampa could have had a hat-trick too, had Matthew Wade clung on to another outside edge from a left-hander at the start of the 15th over, but the ball plopped out of his gloves and Taskin Ahmed survived. Not for long, though, as Zampa ended the innings with the fourth and sixth balls of the same over.
Only three Bangladesh batters got into double figures - the opener Naim, the captain Mahmudullah, and Shamim Hossain, who provided the innings its only real moments of spark when he slog-swept Starc and Zampa for a four and a six soon upon arrival.
Finch's intent leads Australia home
Were Australia looking at their NRR target? The first over answered the question emphatically. Only four runs came off it, but Finch swung and missed at two balls outside off stump, and went hard at a pull that he failed to middle.
The intent would soon find its reward. Sometimes it wasn't quite off the middle of the bat - a four through extra-cover off Mustafizur Rahman in the second over, a miscued leg-side whip that just cleared a leaping Soumya Sarkar in the third - and sometimes it was - a flicked six off Mustafizur, a lofted drive over extra-cover off Taskin - and the runs simply kept coming. David Warner chipped in as well, with a trio of fours in the fourth over, and Australia were romping home with ease.
Both Finch and Warner were bowled while attempting big slogs, but they'd done their respective jobs by then. Mitchell Marsh, recalled in place of Ashton Agar for this match, finished the job in the seventh over, clattering Taskin for a four over mid-off and swatting a short ball over the midwicket boundary to seal the deal on a near-perfect day for Australia.
