Australia are on the brink of qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals after kicking off the Super Eight stage with a convincing 28-run win over Bangladesh in rain-soaked Antigua.
Pat Cummins (3-29) became just the fourth Australian to take a hat-trick in a T20I as he combined with in-form Adam Zampa (2-24) to restrict Bangladesh to 140-8.
Two rain-related interruptions halted Australia’s run-chasing but the dismissal of David Warner (53 not out off 35 balls) meant Australia were well ahead of DLS’s par score when play was abandoned in the 12th over. Mitch Marsh’s side finished the match at 100 for 2.
The win means Australia can better their chances of reaching the last four of the North American tournament if they beat Afghanistan in the second of their three Super Eight matches on Sunday.
Australia won the toss and Mitch Starc (1-21) bowled a typically full game, retiring Tanjid Hasan (0) off the third ball of the innings, putting Bangladesh’s struggling batting line-up on the back foot.
But then veteran tweaker Zampa came on strong, breaking through twice as Bangladesh were trailing at 3-26 around drinks time. Zampa ended a 58-run partnership that had helped Bangladesh recover from Hasan’s absence when his delivery bounced off the pads of a sweeping Litton Das (16 off 25 balls) and hit the stumps.
Najmul Hossain Shanto, the anchor of the opening innings and eventual top-scorer (41 off 36), did not even think about reviewing when Zampa hit him on the pads with the final ball of the 13th over.
The dismissal moves Zampa into sole second place on the list of most wickets in the tournament (11), trailing only Afghanistan fast bowler Fazal Haq Farooqui (15). Torwhid Hridoy (40 off 28) breathed life into Bangladesh’s innings, but Cummins (3-29) ensured that the underdogs never fully recovered.
He kept Mahmudullah at 2 before inviting Mahedi Hasan to hit Zampa at third man with his first ball.Opening the 20th over, Cummins completed his hat-trick when Leadoy smashed the ball into a stretched Josh Hazlewood inside the cordon.
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Cummins became just the fourth Australian player to take a hat-trick in T20Is after Brett Lee, Ashton Agar and Nathan Ellis, and the seventh international to achieve the feat at a T20 World Cup.
Targeting 141 for victory, Warner got lucky after Hridoy missed a tough chance when the veteran opener was on a five in the second over. He and Travis Head (31) scored more sixes in the powerplay than Bangladesh had in the entire innings (three) and were 64 for 0 when play was halted by rain in the seventh over.
But the superb leg-spinner Rishad Hossain (2-23) bowled Head to continue Marsh’s poor form in the tournament and give Bangladesh hope, with the Australian captain burning the review after being caught lbw for one run.
Warner flicked Taskin Ahmed over deep square leg for a six and his second fifty of the tournament before rain returned and the match was abandoned after about an hour had elapsed when the match was abandoned just after midnight local time.
