North Sound (Antigua): Australia’s pace spearhead Pat Cummins picked the first hat-trick of the ongoing ninth edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 and David Warner smashed a brisk half-century to guide Australia to a 28-run win over Bangladesh via the Duckworth Lewis (DLS) method in their Super Eights fixture here.
Cummins claimed three wickets off successive balls at the back end, as Australia restricted Bangladesh to 140 for eight after Mitchell Marsh opted to bowl first in the rain-interrupted game. David Warner and Travis Head posted a fiery 65-run stand for the first wicket, setting the stage for the victory. The rain, which interrupted the game twice before, had the last laugh as the officials announced Mitchell Marsh-led side winners as the required DLS par was 72 and Australia were 28 runs ahead of the target.
Opting to bowl, Mitchell Starc, like he often does, made an early breakthrough by casting Tanzin Hasan on the third ball of the innings. Liton Das and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto stitched a crucial 57-run partnership for the second wicket, but it was a little too slow as it came off 51 balls. Adam Zampa provided a breakthrough for his side, twisting one through Das in the ninth over.
Bangladesh then kept losing wickets at regular intervals and failed to build partnerships in the middle. Towhid Hridoy tried hard to push the pace, dragging his side's total into three figures in the 16th over. With Starc, completing his four overs quota in the 11th over, Pat Cummins was given the chance to bowl in the death overs. He collected two quick scalps to end Australia's 18th over and then removed Hridoy upon return to start over 20, completing the tournament's first hat-trick. Hridoy's 40 off 28 balls was a handy contribution, though, helping steer the Tigers to a total of 140, for the loss of eight wickets.
In reply, openers Travis Head and David Warner gave a blistering start to Australia’s innings, smashing 59 runs off the first six overs. However, soon after the powerplay, Head lost his wicket to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain. Mitchell Marsh, who has been struggling with the bat since the Indian Premier League 2023, failed to get into the groove and get some runs in front of his name going forward. Rishabh trapped him in front of stumps in his very next over. But, then David Warner started to take on Bangladeshi bowlers and took Kangaroo's score past 100 in 11.2 overs with the left-hander striking an unbeaten 35-ball 53 when rain stopped play.
