Australia Vs Bangladesh, T20 World Cup Highlights: Warner-Powered AUS Win Rain-Marred Clash

Welcome to the highlights of our coverage of this key Group 1 clash of ICC T20 World Cup 2024's Super Eight. Australia defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs (DLS method) in North Sound, Antigua on Friday (June 21). The Aussies rode Pat Cummins' hat-trick and Adam Zampa's disciplined spell to restrict the Bangla Tigers to 140 runs. Their openers David Warner and Travis Head then began the chase aggressively, and Warner hit an unbeaten fifty even as intermittent rain forced a premature end to the contest. Catch the highlights of the AUS vs BAN match at T20 WC 2024, right here. (Match Report | Scorecard)

It is raining in Antigua, and the toss has been delayed as a result. The covers have been brought on, though it's only a light shower as of now. Stay tuned for the updated toss time.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh has won the toss and decided to bowl first against Bangladesh.

Playing XIs

Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman.

Mitchell Marsh: "We are going to bowl first. Looks a decent wicket, don't think it'll change too much. It's always nice to get used to the conditions, we have played one game here. The wickets have played pretty well, hopefully we have a great game. As the tournament goes deeper, the pressure rises. It's about trusting our game, sticking to our style and more importantly enjoy the game. Two changes. Starc and Cummins come in for Agar and Ellis."

Najmul Shanto: "I'd have bowled first as well, but happy to bat. We made one change, Shaki Mahedi comes in and Jaker Ali isn't playing. As a batting group, we need to do something special. Looks a good wicket."

Mitchell Starc takes the new ball and gives Australia a dream start, cleaning up Tanzid Hasan off the third delivery of the match.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has walked out after Tanzid's dismissal, and is taking thee attack to the Australia seamers in the powerplay. The problem is at the other end, where Litton Das has scored just two runs off 12 balls.

Run-scoring is still not unfettered, but Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das are slowly getting into their groove. The run rate finally exceeds six as Bangladesh compile 39 runs for the loss of Tanzid Hasan's wicket in the six powerplay overs.

Adam Zampa beats Litton Das's attempted sweep and Australia have their second wicket. Rishad Hossain is in at number 4.

Glenn Maxwell accounts for new batter Rishad Hossain, having him caught by Adam Zampa. Bangladesh's run rate is still a matter of concern and Towhid Hridoy, the number 5, will surely look to remedy that.

Adam Zampa now dislodges Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto. The red-hot Aussie leg-spinner is proving to be the difference once again today, and ends with figures of 2-24 from his four overs. Bangladesh are at 98 for four after 15 overs.

Pat Cummins comes up with the key breakthroughs. Mahmudullah has to walk back as he drags one back onto his stumps. Next ball, Mahedi Hasan can only ride a short ball straight down deep third's throat. Taskin Ahmed is the next man in. Cummins will be on a hat-trick if he bowls the last over.

Pat Cummins comes back for the 20th over and picks up the first hat-trick of ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He dismisses the well-set Towhid Hridoy to boot, and Bangladesh end with 140 runs off their 20 overs. A little bit of rain around the ground as the innings ends, and it is now getting heavier. Stay tuned for updates on resumption of play.

The downpour has stopped at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound for now, and the covers have been removed. Groundstaff drying up the centre, so play should resume very soon.

Play resumes. Mahedi Hasan bowls the first over for Bangladesh, but doesn't get much spin. David Warner hits a reverse-swept boundary in the over, which goes for five runs.

Australia openers David Warner and Travis Head have hit their stride. The duo has scored 36 runs off the first four overs and smashed six boundaries already.

For the third time in today's match, rain has appeared and disappeared just as quickly to not hamper the proceedings significantly. The covers have been removed even before they had come on entirely, and play is expected to resume shortly.

The blogger's curse strikes. Just as we said that the rain is transient, it has returned and so have the covers. So the wait for play resumption gets a bit longer.

Thankfully, not too much time lost. Play is now resuming as the covers have come off. David Warner taking strike and will look to pick up from where he left. Rishad Hossain to continue his incomplete over.

Rishad Hossain has struck twice after the rain interval, and dismissed the dangerous Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh. The spinner is getting some grip off the surface and making things interesting. Another big-hitter Glenn Maxwell arrives at the crease, meanwhile.

David Warner gets to his half-century with an effortless flick over deep square leg for six. Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell has got to 14 off just six balls with some trademark hitting. And the rain has now returned in Antigua. The groundstaff hurriedly bringing covers back on.

The rain delay is enough for us to start losing overs now. The cut-off time for play is 10:15am IST, so just about half an hour from now. The requisite minimum five overs for a result have already been completed, and Australia are 28 runs ahead of the DLS par score as of now.

The rain is too heavy for a resumption to materialize, and that's it for play today. As a result, Australia win the match by virtue of being 28 runs ahead on the DLS par score.

Pat Cummins is the Player of the Match for his hat-trick. Here's what the seamer has to say after Australia's win:

"(Hridoy's wicket) Set batter in, laying the innings, you never know how the innings would've gone. I think we took wickets through the innings. (No hat-trick before) I had a few in juniors but never for Australia. Agar and Ellis on the bench have T20 hat-tricks so good to join that club. Pretty awesome to tick that off. Boys are welcoming me in the club. Good club to be part of. (Tonight's performance) Fairly polished. Goal was to win the game and we did that really well. Run rate also a big positive."

Najmul Hossain Shanto: "Wicket looked good, little slow, but we should've scored 170, I felt. Again this kind of team you have to take some gambling, like we put Rishad up at No. 4. We tried something different. (Personal run) Enjoying taking responsibility and I love to do that. So far doing alright. Hopefully I can contribute more. (India next...) I think very important today that the top order got some runs. We struggled last couple of matches. The bowling unit did a good job in the last 2-3 games so hopefully bowlers will continue their form."

Mitchell Marsh: "Really exciting bowling performance. Boys played well tonight. (On whether this is the best playing XI) It is a very good playing XI. We've got 15 guys that can take us deep in the World Cup. We'll pick teams based on conditions. Long way to go. (His own role) Loving it. Great team. Lots of leaders within the group. Amazing staff keeps us prepared."

With that, we conclude our coverage of this rain-hit encounter. We will be back with live updates from the mouth-watering England vs South Africa clash in the evening. Until then, goodbye.