The crowd at Trent Bridge got their money’s worth as Australia and Bangladesh delighted them with amazing stroke play in a high scoring match. 714 runs were scored in the match as Australia edged out Bangladesh. Coming into the contest Bangladeshi Skipper Mashrafee Mortaza was confident about his side’s chances against the defending Champions Australia. Bangladesh had only beaten Australia once and that came way back in 2005 in England itself. Since then the Bangladeshi side always crumbled against the Aussies. Bangladesh was looking for an elusive win against Australia, whereas the Aussies knew a win against Bangla tigers would go a long way in making them a sure shot semi Finalists.
WARNER SHOW
Australia batted first on a relatively flat looking deck at high scoring Trent Bridge ground in Nottingham. The two prolific Aussie openers Finch and Warner decided to take charge early in the innings as they both played attacking shots against all the Bangladeshi bowlers. Finch was the dominant partner, whereas Warner played a supporting act to his captain. The duo put on a 100 runs partnership in no time as Captain Finch reached his fifty. The First wicket fell in the 21st over when part-time bowler Soumya Sarkar dismissed Finch for 53. Then it was Warner who took charge and decided to put the foot on the accelerator. Warner was savage in his treatment of the helpless Bangladeshi Bowlers as he pounded them to all corners of the ground. The destructive opening batsman raced to his 16th ODI century which was his second of this year’s World cup. Warner scored his 16th Ton in 116 which tied him with Virat Kohli for the fastest to 16 ODI centuries. He found an able partner in Usman Khawaja and both took full advantage of short boundaries at Trent Bridge. Warner activated his third gear after reaching his Fifty and was only dealing in sixes and Four, and brought up his 150. It looked as if Warner will score a Double Ton as there was plenty of overs remaining in the Australian innings. But against the run of Play Warner finally was sent to the Pavilion the most successful bowler in the Bangladeshi side on the day Soumya Sarkar. Warner scored a sublime 166 off just 147 balls with 14 fours and 5 sixes. Then Maxwell and Khawaja took full advantage of Warner’s good work and did not let the run rate drop. The Aussies ended their innings on a massive 381/5 after 50 overs.
BANGLADESH FIGHT
The Bangladeshi batsman needed to start off with a flyer as they were chasing a monumental total. The innings struck a set back in the initial overs as an awful mix-up between Bangladeshi openers led to the demise of Soumya Sarka and Bangladesh were rocked early. In came Bangladeshi legend Shakib and joined Tamim Iqbal in the middle. Both the batsman put on a steadied partnership as the Australian bowlers did not allow both to break the shackles. Bangladesh needed someone who could score at a strike rate of over 150, but both Tamim and Shakib were unable to score quick runs. Once both the batsman got dismissed then the partnership of the match for Bangladesh began as Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah tried to chase down an impossible target. Both Batsmen were outstanding and played the fast bowlers of Australia without any fear. At one point it looked as if, Bangladesh just might do the unthinkable and register one of the most memorable victories in their cricket history. Bangladesh required 100 runs of the last 100 overs as both Musfiqur and Mahmudullah were completely set. Then came the defining moment of the match when Mahmudullah found the fielder at deep square leg at 69, that broke the hearts of the Bangladeshi supporters. Mushfiqur tried his level best as he brought up a fine century but in the end, the Australian just had too many on the board. Once Mushfiqur was dismissed on 102, it was all over and the Bangladeshi fight ended 48 runs short of Australia’s Target.
This win took Australia at the top of the table, on the other hand, Bangladesh now has a mountain to climb as they would have to win every match from now onwards if they want to reach the Semis.
