Bangladesh batting in the spotlight against Australia's depth
Written by I Dig Sports
Match details
Australia vs BangladeshAntigua, 8.30pm local time
Big Picture
Australia's quest to unite ICC trophies across all three formats will now face an Asian challenge. First up it will be Bangladesh, a side they have never lost to in a global event which includes five meetings in the T20 World Cup.Australia's progression to the Super Eight was expected and very smooth - they saved their slightly underpar performance for their fielding effort against Scotland, a game which held no consequences for them but plenty for the opposition, and England.
For Bangladesh, expectations were low after their pre-tournament series loss to USA. They had to get out of a tough group that also included South Africa and Sri Lanka - the narrow win over the latter proved crucial, although there were some nervous moments against Nepal.
The depth in Australia's attack is considerable, too. Nathan Ellis had three outings during the group stage and was impressive in each of them, but is likely to remain behind the big three.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)Australia WWWWW
Bangladesh WWLWW
In the spotlight: Travis Head and Rishad Hossain
As he was in the ODI World Cup, after a delayed start due to injury, Travis Head has been front and centre of Australia's success. The Super Eight stage could be an interesting insight into an area of his game he has worked on: his play against spin. It's something that brought impressive results at the IPL where he finished with a strike-rate of 164.51, but England were sucked into opening the bowling with Moeen Ali and Will Jacks which did not go well. Bangladesh have a good hand of pace bowlers, but could they be tempted into some powerplay spin against Head?Team news: Balance question for Australia
Mitchell Marsh didn't reveal his team the day before the game, but there is only one decision for Australia to make - whether to go with three frontline quicks or two frontline spinners. The former would seem the likely route.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Chandika Hathurusinghe, who knows a number of the Australia players well from his time working with New South Wales, was giving little away ahead of the match but an unchanged XI is expected. "It all depends on the condition," he said. "It is probably a little bit of opposition as well. We will take that into account, their limitation. And of course we play to our strengths."
Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Tanzim Shakib, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Pitch and conditions
North Sound has the second-highest batting strike-rate of venues used during this tournament so has been one of the better grounds for batters. The breeze can play a key factor. There is a chance of showers but nothing too severe.Stats that matter
Quotes
"They're obviously playing some good cricket and we know in these conditions that Bangladesh are a strong team. So, we've got a lot of respect for them and hopefully we can bring our A game."Mitchell Marsh
"Lately the pitches have been very challenging for batsmen in many places. And it's very hard to read the pitches as well. We thought in St. Vincent the pitches were good, and then it turned out to be very difficult. And more bowler-friendly, not only pace or spin, both, it's hard for the batters." Chandika Hathurusinghe
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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