Tigers beat mighty Aussies in T20
Bangladesh completed their maiden T20 victory over Australia when they beat the tourists by 23 runs in the first of the five-match T20 International series at the Sher-e Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
All Bangladeshi bowlers played a big part in their win, especially left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who finished with career-best 4-19 as the hosts bowled out the Aussies for 108 runs after setting up a target of 132 runs in a low-scoring encounter in Dhaka.
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was the only batsman of the touring team, who created some panic during the run-chase but his dismissal to Nasum after making run-a-ball 45 in the 16th over ensured Bangladesh’s first win over Australia in five attempts.
Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam removed the tail as they shared two wickets each.
Bangladesh, who earlier could score 131-7 after being asked to bat first, shattered Australia’s top-order and reduced the visitors to 11-3 in 2.1 overs in defending the total.
Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan gave Bangladesh first breakthrough by removing opener Alex Carey in the first ball of the innings while Nasum joined the party in the next over by dismissing other opener Josh Phillippe in the next over.
Shakib, who earlier made highest 36 off 33 balls, made an immediate impact while coming to bowl his first over as he bowled Moises Henriques to put the visitors at back-foot.
Aussie skipper Matthew Wade tried to repair the early damage by putting up a 38-run stand with Marsh but he was also dismissed by Nasum on 13 after Mustafizur took a brilliant catch at fine-leg.
Nasum, who was playing only his fifth T20I, then removed Ashton Agar, who hit his own wicket before the 26-year old ended Marsh’s sole effort not only to finish with his career-best T20 bowling figure but also give Bangladesh a famous win.
Bangladesh earlier made a cautious start as they could only make 33-1 in the power-play while they also failed to accelerate the innings and found them struggling at 58-2 in first 10 overs.
Mohammad Naim made 30 off 29 while Mahmudullah scored run-a-ball 20 and Shakib also scored some useful runs but Bangladesh missed a fiery knock during their entire innings.
Afif Hossain scored 23 off 17 balls later in the innings to guide Bangladesh to a challenging total which was defended successfully by their bowlers.
Aussie pacer duo Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc took three and two wickets respectively in the innings.
The second match of the series will be played on Wednesday at the same venue.
