T20 World Cup 2024: Australia chase 141 to beat Bangladesh – live | T20 World Cup 2024

WICKET! Australia 69-2 (Marsh lbw b Rishad 1)

8th over: Australia 66-1 (Warner 34, Marsh 0): Mahedi Hasan bowls out his fourth over and again works away at a good line. Warner picks up the only run with a cut shot, while Mahedi finishes with an impressive 0-22.

7th over: Australia 65-1 (Warner 33, Marsh 0): Rishad gets the much-needed breakthrough, sending Head on his way for 31. The Australia skipper comes to the crease and is due a few runs, but for now closely watches the one delivery he faces.

WICKET! Australia 65-1 (Head b Rishad 31)

Play resumes with Australia needing 77 more runs

There was a glimmer of hope that play would resume soon as the covers were removed, but just as they passed the rope the rain returned and the grounds people were called back into action.

Australia’s one-two punch of Warner and Head have mostly kept pace with each other, the veteran scoring 32 from 18 balls while his opening partner has 31 from 20.

Both Warner and Head have hit three fours and a pair of sixes – here are all four maximums from the duo so far:

The covers are on. Rain has been threatening to interrupt this Super Eight clash since the toss was delayed but had held off appearing during play until now.

Australia are 64-0 after 6.2 overs, and 29 runs ahead of the required 35 under the DLS thanks to an imperious powerplay from Warner and Head.

6th over: Australia 59-0 (Warner 28, Head 30): Australia bring up their 50 without loss as their openers look like making light work of this run case. Mahedi had almost sent down another neat over until the last ball is a horrible half-tracker that Warner treats with disdain as he rocks back and smacks it over mid-wicket for six.

At the end of the powerplay, Australia need 82 more runs with all 10 wickets still in hand.

5th over: Australia 49-0 (Warner 20, Head 29): Mustafizur takes his first turn with the ball but the outcome is much the same. After four balls of the left-armer varying his deliveries, Head sends an over-pitched one straight back over the bowler’s head for a monstrous six. The left-hander gives himself room for the next ball, upper cutting it to take one bounce over the boundary.

4th over: Australia 36-0 (Warner 18, Head 18): Bangladesh bring their main strike bowler Taskin Ahmed into the attack, a smart move in trying to prevent the Australia openers getting too far away from them. The first ball breaks 140 km/h, but Warner has little trouble crunching the next past mid-on to the boundary. Head finds four more through mid-off, sending Taskin to finish the over bowling around the wicket. Head watches the first coming from that angle then refuses to be cramped up, stepping back to pull a thunderous shot over mid-wicket for six.

3rd over: Australia 21-0 (Warner 13, Head 8): SIX! Warner slog sweeps a ball that drifted down the leg side and it sails over deep midwicket for the first maximum of the Australia innings. A tidy over from Mahedi from there.

2nd over: Australia 14-0 (Warner 6, Head 8): WARNER DROPPED! Bangladesh turn to pace with Tanzim Hasan handed the ball. The Australia veteran slices away to point, the ball flying straight to a fielder but it dips late and tumbles out of fingertips. A quick single brings Head on strike and he is straight onto the front foot with back-to-back twos then a punishing drive for four.

1st over: Australia 5-0 (Warner 5, Head 0): Bangladesh follow England’s lead to test Australia early with spin, but as in the group stage it fails to do much more than prevent an onslaught of runs. David Warner picks up a boundary with a tasty reverse sweep after taking all of one ball to get his eye in.

David Warner takes strike as the recalled Mahedi Hasan prepares to start the Australia innings with off-spin to the left-handed opening pair.

Pat Cummins claimed Australia’s second-ever hat-trick in men’s T20 World Cups.

It had to be spread across two separate overs, but here are the three deliveries back-to-back-to-back:

Taskin Ahmed looks keen to take the new ball for Bangladesh as the Australia openers stride out to start the run chase.

The Bangladesh speedster is a personal fave, full of fire and brimstone as he charges in, then launching into a guttural cry in moments of celebration. Let’s hope Taskin can take a wicket or two today, not only to spice up the contest, but also for the photos we can drop in here.

Pat Cummins’ hat-trick might have overshadowed Mitchell Starc’s fast start today, but the left-armer has already proven himself in white-ball tournaments over the years.

Starc now has the most wickets from ODI and T20 World Cups combined.

Bangladesh set Australia 141-run target

HAT-TRICK! Bangladesh 133-8 (Hridoy c Hazlewood b Cummins 40)

19th over: Bangladesh 133-7 (Hridoy 40, Taskin 10): Taskin Ahmed shows how it can be done, picking the gaps for three twos then dispatching an attempted yorker from Hazlewood away for four.

18th over: Bangladesh 122-7 (Hridoy 39, Taskin 0): Bangladesh find it hard to get Cummins away as the pressure builds until he finishes with two wickets.

WICKET! Bangladesh 122-7 (Mahedi c Zampa b Cummins 0)

WICKET! Bangladesh 122-6 (Mahmudullah b Cummins 2)

17th over: Bangladesh 117-5 (Hridoy 35, Mahmudullah 1): Stoinis picks up the wicket of the dangerous Shakib and it is another veteran in Mahmudullah that comes to the crease. He immediately finds a single to hand the strike to the set batter in Towhid Hridoy. It is back-to-back sixes for Hridoy as Bangladesh look to respond. The first is a slog to cow corner, with the next a more traditional, stylish shot that goes square.

WICKET! Bangladesh 103-5 (Shakib c & b Stoinis 8)

16th over: Bangladesh 103-4 (Hridoy 22, Shakib 8): A tame over for Bangladesh as they pass 100 but need to get motoring now. It is easier said than done against Hazlewood as the pacer works away at his preferred line and length.

15th over: Bangladesh 98-4 (Hridoy 19, Shakib 6): Zampa bowls out his last over and Bangladesh initially look to be waiting to see the back of the leg-spinner. Shakib Al-Hasan gives Australia a half chance as he steps back to dab over Maxwell at mid-off but it falls safely for a single. Hridoy faces the last ball of Zampa’s spell and smacks it away for four. It is just the third Bangladesh boundary in six overs, as Zampa finishes with 2-24.

14th over: Bangladesh 89-4 (Hridoy 14, Shakib 2): Cummins back into the attack as the Bangladesh duo are happy picking up singles as they look to quickly rebuild.

13th over: Bangladesh 84-4 (Hridoy 12, Shakib 0): No surprise that it is Adam Zampa that picks up another crucial breakthrough, this time the Bangladesh batter that was set. But Towhid Hridoy has made a promising start, including a devastating blow that raced away for four over midwicket.

WICKET! Bangladesh 84-4 (Najmul lbw b Zampa 41)

12th over: Bangladesh 79-3 (Najmul 41, Hridoy 7): A neat over from Maxwell as Bangladesh play it safe with preservation in mind after a couple of quick wickets. But with seven wickets in hand and only eight overs remaining it is properly time to put the foot down if they want to reach a competitive total.

11th over: Bangladesh 72-3 (Najmul 40, Hridoy 1): Mitchell Starc bowls out his fourth over and it is a quality one as the left-armer tightens up against both batters and finishes with a tidy 1-21.

10th over: Bangladesh 67-3 (Najmul 39, Hridoy 0): Bangladesh were able to keep the score ticking over as Glenn Maxwell takes the ball. That was until Rishad Hossain lifted his head and sliced a simple catch to Zampa from the last delivery before DRINKS!

WICKET! Bangladesh 67-3 (Rashid c Zampa b Maxwell 2)

9th over: Bangladesh 60-2 (Najmul 33, Rishad 1): Zampa turns the contest ever soi slightly back in Australia’s favour with the dismissal of Litton Das. But the Bangladesh skipper Najmul continues to look comfortable as he is joined by Rishad Hossain.

WICKET! Bangladesh 58-2 (Litton b Zampa 16)

8th over: Bangladesh 57-1 (Litton 16, Najmul 31): A triple change for Australia as the freshly crowned No 1-ranked T20I all-rounder Marcus Stoinis takes his turn with the ball. The pacer almost picks up a much-needed breakthrough as Najmul slices a cut only just out of reach of a leaping Matthew Wade to bounce away for four. Najmul and Litton have worked through the gears in what has now become a 50-plus run stand.

7th over: Bangladesh 47-1 (Litton 15, Najmul 23): Australia turn to Adam Zampa with the powerplay done. The leg-spinner has been Australia’s leading wicket-taker at the tournament so far with nine scalps, but Najmul shows him little respect as he pulls a ball that pitches only a touch short away through midwicket to the boundary. Bangladesh are picking up more singles now as well, as they start to work their way on top.

6th over: Bangladesh 39-1 (Litton 13, Najmul 18): Pat Cummins comes into the attack for the last over of the powerplay and starts with a wide. Najmul lofts a ball off his pads and away to deep mid-on for a boundary, then only has to duck under a wild delivery from Cummins that escapes keeper Wade’s outstretched hand to race away for five wides. Australia let Bangladesh climb off the ropes a little there, with 22 from the past two overs as they finish the powerplay on 39-1.

5th over: Bangladesh 27-1 (Litton 12, Najmul 13): Litton picks up his first boundary of the innings with a sublime pull shot even after Starc knocked the ball in at a good length. The opener follows up with a drive through cover for two, then a thick edge that narrowly avoids Warner standing deep behind slip but races away for four to make it 10 off the over.

4th over: Bangladesh 17-1 (Litton 2, Najmul 13): SIX! Najmul opens up with the shot of the day thus far, dancing down the wicket and smacking Hazlewood back over his head for a momentous maximum. But the Australian quick has Litton Das under his thumb as the right-handed batter has to turn to searching for creative ways to try to get Hazlewood away. The Bangladesh opener picks up a leg bye from a delivery that crashes into him, but is otherwise finding the going tough with two runs from 12 balls faced.

3rd over: Bangladesh 8-1 (Litton 1, Najmul 6): The typical highs and lows of Mitchell Starc are on show, after he started the match with a wicket in the opening over then follows up with what can kindly be described as a loosener to start his second. Bangladesh find a couple of easy singles then give Australia half a chance of a run out from the final delivery but Najmul scampers home at the bowler’s end.

2nd over: Bangladesh 4-1 (Litton 0, Najmul 4): After six balls of Starc mixing up his line and length, Josh Hazlewood does the opposite as the right-armer immediately finds then sticks to his preferred spot just outside off-stump. A maiden to Litton Das.

1st over: Bangladesh 4-1 (Litton 0, Najmul 4): Mitchell Starc gives Australia a dream start with the early wicket of Tanzid Hasan then testing Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto with a trademark yorker. Najmul blazes the last ball of the over through point to the boundary to get his side off the mark.

WICKET! Bangladesh 0-1 (Tanzid b Starc 0)

It was a short rain delay then a lean-back rendition of the Bangladesh national anthem which didn’t go unnoticed by Showbizguru:

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the Bangladesh national anthem, but was that the special collectors vinyl-edition extended play ? Either way it was bloomin’ marvellous.”

“But is it the longest national anthem?”

One to ponder throughout the next few hours. But for now, Mitchell Starc is tossing the new ball between his hands and it is Game On!

Bangladesh XI

Australia XI

Australia win the toss and elect to field

The covers are off and we’re waiting for Mitch Marsh and Najmul Hossain Shanto to make their way to the middle for the toss and team news.

While you’re waiting, catch up on where we sit in Group 1 after all teams started the Super Eight stage with a clean slate with the match highlights from Afghanistan v India earlier today:

Rain has started to fall moments before the captains were due to walk out at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium for the toss.

Ricky Ponting is braving the elements without an umbrella in the middle of the park, and the Australia side are out there continuing their warm up, so hopefully we won’t be too far away.

Form guide

While Australia navigated the group stage without loss, Bangladesh also made a bright start with a tense two-wicket victory over bitter rivals Sri Lanka, a narrow defeat by South Africa, then convincing wins against Netherlands and Nepal.

It has been a rapid – and somewhat surprising – turnaround since Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side suffered a 2-1 T20 series defeat by the USA in Houston last month. Their skipper is due some runs though, after only scoring 26 across four knocks at this tournament.

If Najmul misses out again, it isn’t clear which Bangladesh batter might step up with none compiling 100 runs at the tournament yet. Towhid Hridoy is the closest with 95 which has also come at their batters’ leading strike rate of 125.

On the other hand, Marcus Stoinis (156), Travis Head (148) and David Warner (116) have all reached a combined triple figures across four group stage matches, and Australia’s explosive top-order looms as the key weapon again today even as their middle-order has underperformed so far.

Australia have won all five of their T20 World Cup clashes with Bangladesh, including one on their way to the 2021 crown. The Asian nation at least took out a T20 bilateral series in Mirpur 4-1 in the months before Australia saluted in Dubai, but the stakes are much higher here.

Geoff Lemon likes what he has seen from Australia, and has gone the relatively early crow that they are once again the team to beat:

Preamble