Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets on Monday in Bengaluru in their Group 2 encounter of the World Twenty20. Chasing 157 to win, Steven Smith's team were coasting along at 115/2 in the 14th over, before a late slump made things tight towards the end. However, the 50-over world champions hung on to eventually record their first win in the tournament. Bangladesh fought hard, but were not good enough to avoid a second straight defeat.
The day didn't start well for Mashrafe Mortaza's side. Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny were suspended from bowling because of suspect actions. They were replaced in the team by left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib and allrounder Shuvagata Hom. Batsman Tamim Iqbal was also missing due to illness. After being put in to bat by Smith on a slow surface, Bangladesh struggled to 105/5 in the 16th over and it looked like they wouldn't cross 140. Fortunately for the Asia Cup finalists, allrounder Mahmudullah decided to do something about it, hitting a superb 49 off 29 balls to take his team to a respectable 156/5. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies, recording figures of 3/23.
Australia started their chase confidently, with opener Usman Khawaja hitting a quickfire half-century to set a solid platform. However, once the left-hander fell in the 14th over with the score at 115/3, the Australians lost their way. What should have been a stroll turned out to be a nailbiting finish, as the Australians bizarrely threw their wickets away at regular intervals. Glenn Maxwell (26 off 15 balls) hit a few boundaries towards the end to ease some nerves, before James Faulkner took the Aussies home.
Australia's win pushed them to third in the Group 2 points table, above India on net run-rate. Bangladesh remain at the bottom with two losses and no wins.
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