Bangladesh dismiss Australia for 108 to take 1-0 series lead

Australia’s troubles against spin continued to haunt them as they suffered their first-ever T20I defeat to Bangladesh in the opening encounter at Dhaka. Led by an excellent 3-wicket haul from Josh Hazlewood, Australia bowled excellently to restrict the hosts to 131-7 in the first innings. However, spin once again proved to be Australia’s nemesis as they were bundled out for 108 following a fantastic spell of 4-19 from Nasum Ahmed to give Bangladesh a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.

Australia’s chase of 132 got off to the worst start imaginable as Alex Carey was bowled off the very first ball of the innings after the left-hander played for the turn against a delivery that went straight on. Josh Philippe looked to take the aggressive route against the spinners but didn’t last too long either and was stumped after coming down the track to a delivery that spun sharply.

Their troubles compounded when Moises Henriques redirected the ball onto his stumps while looking to sweep, leaving them in a tricky position at 11-3 in 2.1 overs with all three wickets falling to the spinners. 

Mitchell Marsh was one of the major positives for Australia from their tour of the West Indies, and the all-rounder looked to steady the ship and build a partnership with captain Matthew Wade following the early collapse.

However, the visitors never fully recovered and suffered some misfortune with Matthew Wade hitting a wide delivery straight to the hands of short fine leg and Ashton Agar trodding onto his own stumps to get out hit-wicket.

After hitting five boundaries in the innings – more than the rest of Australia’s batsmen combined – Marsh was eventually removed on 45 by Nasum Ahmed who finished with figures of 4-19. Marsh’s dismissal ended Australia’s hopes of victory and Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam ran through Australia’s tail to bowl them out for 108.

With the ball, the Australian bowlers restricted Bangladesh to only 33 runs in the powerplay and continued to take wickets at regular intervals to restrict Bangladesh’s momentum. Shakib Al Hasan played a watchful innings of 36 from 33 balls but was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood before he could accelerate, with Bangladesh only managing 104 in 17 overs. However, Afif Hossain helped the hosts score 27 runs off the final three overs to propel them to a score of 131, which eventually proved to be the difference.

While Australia are still without plenty of first-team regulars – Aaron Finch, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins – there are worrying signs for Justin Langer’s side after suffering their 6^th T20I defeat in their last seven matches. Australia struggled against Hayden Walsh and Fabian Allen in the West Indies, and once again, the spinners proved to be their downfall on pitches that are likely to be similar to what they face in the T20 World Cup in the UAE in a few months.