Australia beat Bangladesh by four wickets in 1st T20I

 

Young left-handed batter Cooper Connolly scored 47 off 27 deliveries as the Aussies chased down a 132-run target with 10 balls to spare.

 

There were small but meaningful contributions through the order for Australia, who never looked in trouble chasing such a small target.

 

Debutant Abdul Gaffar Saqlain took two wickets for 32 runs for Bangladesh, who will try to square off the series in the next match at the same venue on Friday.

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Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 29 off 22 deliveries. The second best was Saif Hassan's 17 followed by Soumya Sarkar's 17.

 

Four spinners took nine wickets among them for Australia with Adam Zampa taking three. Debutante Joel Davies took two wickets while the other debutant Nikhil Chaudhary took one.  

 

 

Litton Das's injury forced Hridoy to captain the team for the first time. Pacer Abdul Gaffar Saqlain was handed debut as Bangladesh opted for three seamers and two spinners.

 

National team physio Delowar Hossain Shiva said regarding Litton's injury: "Following a medical assessment, the player has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of the left calf muscle. The injury is considered minor, and he is progressing well in his recovery. He will be unavailable for the first match. However, depending on his response to treatment and rehabilitation, he may be fit for the subsequent matches. We will continue to monitor his progress closely.”

 

Australia, meanwhile, have two debutants in the form of Joel Davies and Nikhil Chaudhary.

 

 

 

Bangladesh: Tanzid Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Parvez Emon(w), Tawhid Hridoy(c), Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, Mustafizur Rahman

Australia: Mitchell Marsh(c), Josh Inglis(w), Cooper Connolly, Matt Renshaw, Tim David, Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davies, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa