Tigers restricted to 131 for 7 in first T20I
When Mohammad Naim struck Mitchell Starc for six in just the second delivery of the first over, it ushered hopes that Bangladesh would be able to post a big enough score to test Australia but their inability to take advantage of the early field settings during the Powerplay might prove costly yet. Bangladesh never managed to get going despite some promising shots in the Powerplay and were restricted to 131 for 7 in the first of the five-match T20I series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today.
Hazzlewood was getting good early bounce and squared up Soumya, cramping him up for room. Soumya, moved away from his stumps and played one down straight onto his stumps as Aussies made the first breakthrough in the fourth over.
Naim looked promising as he proceeded to hit Starc for six again in the fifth over but the singles however were not coming.
Only 33 runs came in the Powerplay despite the fact that Naim was able to hit two fours and two sixes during the first six overs. The inability to take singles between the odd boundaries was starting to become apparent. In the end, he succumbed to a slider from Adam Zampa in the seventh over, trying to reverse sweep without acknowledging the length or the line of the delivery, out bowled after a 29-ball 30.
Shakib and Mahmudullah Riyad kept ticking the runs till the 12th over and with the team needing to accelerate, the latter forced a change of ball in the first delivery of the 13th over of Hazzlewood, helping a delivery off his hips for six over square leg. However, Riyad departed next delivery, trying to go over mid-off but not managing the connection he intended, holed out after a run-a-ball 20.
Shakib could count his lucky stars as he went after Zampa in the 14th over, hitting the ball in the air to long on. Andrew Tye at long on came forward to take the catch but the ball dipped on him and ran away for four.
Nurul Hasan was outfoxed by Hazzlewood in the last over. Australia made some adjustments to the field setting and brought up fine leg and Sohan moved towards his off side to lay it over the fine leg region but Hazzlewood predicted early and bowled a slower one very wide outside the off stump which Sohan (3 off 4) only managed to slice to point.
Shakib looked get going with accelerating the scoring rate but succumbed to a Hazzlewood after a 33-ball 36 with the slightly slower delivery not bouncing as much as he expected and crashed onto his stumps. Hazzlewood would finish with three four 24 runs in his four overs.
Starc produced a magnificent yorker to castle Shamim Hossain in the 18th over. In the final over of the innings, Afif improvised intelligently to reverse scoop Starc for a four. Then he was bowled off a beamer that resulted in a no-ball, stealing two singles but Starc cleaned up his stumps in the final delivery after a 17-ball 23 as Bangladesh reached 131 for 7.
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