Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first in the third T20 of the five-match series against Australia at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Friday.
The match started at 7:30pm – an hour later than scheduled – due to rain.
The toss was scheduled to take place at 5:30pm, but the weather ensured that the pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium was covered and the toss was delayed.
Bangladesh fielded an unchanged XI for Friday’s match while Australia made three changes. They dropped Mitchel Starc, Andrew Tye, and Josh Philippe to pave way for Ben McDermott, Daniel Christian and debutant Nathan Ellis.
Bangladesh won the first two matches of the series. So, the third match is a chance for the Tigers to seal the series with two matches to spare.
In both the matches, Bangladeshi bowlers were superb. Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam troubled the visitors along with the spinners.
So far, Mustafizur has taken five wickets in this series – the highest for any bowlers of both teams.
Before this series, Bangladesh faced Australia four times in the shorter format of international cricket but failed to win any match.
The Tigers’ wait came to an end on August 3 when Nasum Ahmed bagged four wickets and guided his team to a 23-run win.
Bangladesh playing XI
Mohammad Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Mahmudullah(c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan(w), Shamim Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed
Australia playing XI
Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott, Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey, Ashton Turner, Daniel Christian, Ashton Agar, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Source: United News of Bangladesh