Australia whitewashed Bangladesh

Sports Desk

Bangladesh were unbeaten in the final match of the T20 series against Australia. Australia whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0, riding on a blistering 60 off 28 balls from Aussie captain Mitchell Marsh. The visitors chased down a modest target of 109 runs in just 11 overs, losing 3 wickets.

Australia had already secured the series by winning the first two matches. They also effortlessly won the final match of the series in Chittagong.

Earlier, Bangladesh’s batting woes were saved by acting captain Towhid Hridoy, who remained unbeaten on 61 off 51 balls.

Australia wasted no time in chasing a small target, with openers Josh English and Marsh attacking the Bangladesh pacers from the very first ball.

Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed provided the first breakthrough in the opening storm. After bowling three overs in the wickets, he dismissed English (17). English put on a 54-run opening partnership with the captain before retiring.

At the other end, Marsh continued his rampage and scored his 14th T20I fifty in just 23 balls. He was eventually dismissed for 60 by Shariful Islam. Marsh’s innings was studded with seven fours and four sixes.

Then Cooper Conley scored 15 runs before being dismissed by Rishad Hossain. Matt Renshaw (6*) and Tim David easily took care of the rest. David scored 12 runs off just 3 balls, including two sixes, to ensure the team’s victory.

For Bangladesh, Nasum, Shariful and Rishad took one wicket each.

Earlier, Bangladesh, having won the toss and elected to bat in the match to avoid a whitewash, failed to post a big total. Only Hridoy and Rishad Hossain could reach double figures, while the rest of the batters were in a procession.

Opener Tanjid Hasan Tamim was unfortunately run out. In the second over, a straight drive from Saif Hasan hit the stumps of bowler Spencer Johnson, causing Tanjid to depart for 5 runs.

Saif also quickly returned with a catch for 9 runs. Parvez Hossain Emon also could not settle down, he was out for just 1 run off 13 balls, losing 3 wickets for just 11 runs, putting Bangladesh in dire straits.

From there, Towhid Hridoy fought from one end. He formed a partnership with Nurul Hasan Sohan, Rishad and Shariful to take the team past the 100 mark. However, none of these partnerships could exceed 30 runs, as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end.

Hriday ended up unbeaten on 61 runs off 51 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. This was his seventh T20 International half-century.

For Australia, Spencer Johnson, Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa took 2 wickets each.