Australia showed their susceptibility with the bat on a slow track in the loss to New Zealand in the ICC World T20 2016. The Aussies will now hope their powers of bouncebackability are in good order when they play Bangladesh at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru Monday.
In a tight group, where any of the five teams can qualify for the semifinals, Australia began their World T20 business in a poor manner, tamely going down to New Zealand, who showed their spin bowling chops yet again.
After restricting the Kiwis to what looked like a below par total in Dharamsala, the Australia batsmen kept losing wickets in clumps, which in turn led to their downfall in the chase.
"We haven't played as well as we would have liked in this format of the game," Australia captain Steve Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "I still think we have the right personnel here to get the job done. We've got a strong squad of 15 players. We have a lot of power in the sheds.
"For us it's about making sure we improve in the middle overs and keep the wickets in the shed so we can use that power to have some success over here. We didn't do that the other night. If we can, I'm confident we'll get enough runs and our bowlers will do the job to get us a few wins in this tournament."
Australia need to get their combinations right for this match against Bangladesh, with someone like Josh Hazlewood in the frame to return to the playing IX, most probably at the expense of Ashton Agar, who was taken for 18 runs in the one over he bowled in the match against New Zealand.
Aaron Finch, who was the captain a few months ago, but found himself out of the team for the New Zealand game, could also return, even if it might be difficult, considering Usman Khawaja played a nice little innings – Australia clearly prefer to have a right and left-hand combination at the top, and with Shane Watson opening the batting and David Warner coming in at No.4, Khawaja is likely to keep his place, unless Warner is brought back to the top of the order.
Bangladesh have plenty of team issues to sort out as well, after Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny were suspended by the ICC with immediate effect after their bowling actions were found to be illegal. While Bangladesh bristle with anger over that decision, all they can do in this match against Australia is put their best foot forward, and hope the replacements do their jobs.
"We are very upset with the decision," Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza told reporters. "It's very disappointing. We still believe that Taskin is alright. The system -- I don't know. We can't do anything at the moment. We have to go through the process."
The process of performing in their first match – against Pakistan – wasn't great as Bangladesh suffered a forgettable evening out at the Eden Gardens. The bowlers conceded way too many runs, with the batsmen succumbing under the pressure of the big chase.
Bangladesh cannot afford another poor night in the office, because if they do, their World T20 semifinal hopes might get over in a hurry. With Mustafizur Rahman expected to return to the playing XI, Bangladesh will hope to do something they have done quite often in the past 12 months – defeat heavyweight teams.
Where to Watch Live
The match between Australia and Bangladesh is set to begin at 7.30 p.m. IST (2 p.m. GMT, 9 a.m. ET). Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD3 will provide live TV coverage for viewers in India. Audience in India can also watch the World T20 Group 2 match live streaming online on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Fox Sports will show the World T20 2016 match live in Australia, while the live streaming option is on Foxtel. Bangladesh TV is the place to be to watch the World T20 game live in Bangladesh.
Willow TV and Willow TV Online will broadcast the game live on TV and online in the US and Canada.
Sky Sports 2 will show the match live in the UK , while the live stream option is on Watch Sky Sports.
Viewers in New Zealand can watch Australia play Bangladesh live on Sky Sport and Sky Go NZ.
Audience in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa will be able to watch the World T20 action live on SuperSport 2, with the online live stream option SuperSport Live Video.
