AUS vs BAN Match Preview- ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 34

Bangladesh lock horns with Australia in the 34^th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Thursday at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Australia and Bangladesh have played 9 T20Is against each other so far. Australia have managed to win on 5 occasions, while Bangladesh won it four times.

In the World Cups, Bangladesh have never beaten Australia. They would be looking to end their losing streak on Thursday. Though, chances of that happening are highly unlikely. Here’s a look at how these two teams have performed thus far in the tournament.

AUS vs BAN Match Preview- ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 34

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh find themselves at the bottom of the points table in Group1. We have seen some notable individual performances from them. However, lack of collective performances from the team has been the major reason behind their downfall.

Shakib Al Hasan exhibited notable all-round performances in the first round but couldn’t replicate those in the Super 12s. Add to that, he has now been ruled out of the tournament owing to a hamstring injury.

In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, the onus for scoring runs was on the the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. The duo played a couple of telling knocks but lacked consistently, overall.

In the last game against a potent South African bowling attack, Bangladesh were bundled out for a paltry 84-run total in the first innings. Liton Das (24 off 36) and Mahedi Hasan (27 off 25) showed some fight in the middle, however, none of the other batsmen made an impact.

The bowling performances too have been largely inconsistent. Ahead of the next game against Australia, Shariful Islam and Taskin Ahmed will be the big bets. The latter exhibited a sensational display of fast bowling in the last game against South Africa, picking 2 for 18 in 4 overs. He bowled accurate lengths and with great speed. He will be the one to watch out for Thursday.

Australia:

Australia wouldn’t be proud of the way they played the last game against England. Australian batsmen looked absolutely clueless against England bowlers and only managed to score 125 runs in the first innings.

Barring Aaron Finch (44 off 49), all the batsmen in the top six got out in single digits. England chased down the score in just 11.4 overs, courtesy of a 71-run knock from Jos Buttler.

Despite losing their last game, Australia remains very much in contention for reaching the semi-finals. They currently sits at number three on the points table in the Group1. England are already qualified and the second spot are most likely be taken by Australia or South Africa.

For Aaron Finch and Co. to reach the semi-finals, they have to win their remaining two matches. Their net run rate of -0.627 also tell you that Australia have to win those game by a significant margin.

Having said that inconsistent performances with the bat aren’t going to help them. David Warner and Aaron Finch both need to fire at the top and the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell ought to play crucial knocks in the middle overs. Australia’s next game is against Bangladesh and there couldn’t be a better opportunity for their batsmen to find consistency with the bat.

The bowling unit is in decent form. You don’t expect any changes taking place in that department.