AUS vs BAN: Hat-trick hero Cummins stars as Australia get perfect start to Super 8

Hat-trick hero Pat Cummins was the star of the show as Australia got off to the perfect start in the Super 8 stage by hammering Bangladesh by 28 runs via DLS method on June 21, Friday in Antigua. Australia, who had won all their games in the group stages, were looking to get off the blocks quickly. The match was affected by short spells of rain, starting with the toss, which was delayed.

Australia won the toss and showed no hesitation in opting to bowl first and they had brought back Cummins and Hazlewood into the lineup for the game. But it was Mitchell Starc who delivered instant success with the wicket of Tanzid Hasan in the 3rd ball of the game. Najimul Shanto, who has been struggling in the T20 World Cup 2024, was tasked with steadying the innings and getting a good score on the board. The Bangladesh skipper did just that and had support from Litton Das at the other end.

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Both men put on 58 runs before Adam Zampa dismissed Litton. The move to promote Rishad Hossain failed as Bangladesh found themselves in a spot of bother. Shanto scored 41 off the 84 runs by the 13 over before he also fell to Zampa, as Bangladesh were staring down the barrel. Towhid Hridoy came in to push the score and got off with a couple of sixes off Marcus Stoinis, but wickets kept falling at the other end.

This is when Cummins joined the party and dismissed Mahmudullah and Mahedi Hasan off the last 2 deliveries off the 18th over. The pacer returned to bowl the final one and dismissed Hridoy to complete the hat-trick and become the 2nd Aussie bowler to achieve the feat in T20 World Cups. Bangladesh was restricted to just 140 runs on the track and the score seemed well-below par.

David Warner and Travis Head then started off the chase on the front foot and both men scored 59 runs in the powerplay to more or less kill the game. However, a rain delay would give Bangladesh some hope through Rishad. The leg-spinner picked up the wickets of Head and Mitchell Marsh as the Aussies were a bit wobbly during that phase.

But Warner quickly ended any doubts as he scored his 28th T20I fifty as Australia were cruising to the score. Rain would then come in to affect the game again but the Aussies were 28 runs ahead at that time via DLS method. The match was then called off with Warner remaining unbeaten on 53 along with Maxwell on 14.

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Australia flex their muscles again

The Aussies seem to be the most complete team in the tournament at the moment. While India and South Africa have won all their matches so far, the Aussies have seemingly shown no weaknesses so far with both bat and ball. While the form of Marsh and Maxwell maybe a concern, Warner and Head have ensured that they don’t have to do the heavylifting.

If it does come to the middle-order, Stoinis has stepped up as the finisher. When it comes to bowling, luxury would be an understatement to describe the Aussies. Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood have been rotated so well in the tournament with the team not missing a beat and Nathan Ellis is waiting in the wings. Zampa has continued to be trump card once again for the Aussies with vital wickets.

The game in Antigua was a marker to the rest of the competition that Australia are one of the hot favourites to win the title and complete a historic cricket treble.

Bangladesh continue to lack inspiration

For quite some time, it was felt that Bangladesh could turn into one of the dark horse sides in ICC events. However, things haven’t been the same since the ODI World Cup 2023. The team looked uninspiring and lacked fearlessness, something many have associated the Bangladesh side to in the past few years.

In the T20 World Cup 2024, things looked a bit bleak with the preparations as they were beaten comprehensively by the USA in the T20I series before the event and got overwhelmed by India in the practice game.

Once the group stages began, the batting has struggled and it was the same on Friday. Apart from Shanto and Hridoy, none of the batters had the intent to take the attack to the Aussies and this was the reason why they ended up with just 140 in the end.

Bangladesh next face an in-form India on June 22 and they cannot afford a loss.