Australia v Bangladesh - as it happened!

Evening all. I'm coming to this rather late, I'm afraid, so in lieu of an adequate preamble, here's a link to a site that explains things rather better than I could anyway . Australia have won the toss and are going to have a bat. Shakib says he would have fielded anyway. "165 would be a good total to chase," reckons the Bangaldesh captain. The highest score chased down in the tournament so far? Ignoring England's rain-reduced 191, you have to go back to the opening game and Sri Lanka's 135-6, bettered by New Zealand with one ball to spare. Oh, and 166 is Bangladesh's highest ever T20 total. Make of those what you will. For Australia Ryan Harris is in for Mitchell Johnson, who has infected-elbow-knack, but perhaps more importantly Bangladesh are without Tamim Iqbal, arguably their best batsman. They'll have to chase down Australia's score within 19 overs without him, and, as the sandalled doyen of these parts Andy Bull (currently sunning himself working extremely hard in Bridgetown) points out, that seems a remote chance on a Barbados pitch that those ITK are tipping to be quick. Today's teams in full: Australia: DA Warner, SR Watson, MJ Clarke*, DJ Hussey, CL White, MEK Hussey, BJ Haddin†, SPD Smith, RJ Harris, SW Tait, DP Nannes Bangladesh: Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan*, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim†, Jahurul Islam, Naeem Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak Here's Dileep Premachandran's view of the Bangladesh's tournament so far : If Bangladesh don't make it through, they must look at a bowling attack that gave Pakistan a free pass in their opening game. Shakib Al Hasan and Shafiul Islam apart, the others left the fundamentals of line and length behind in the dressing room. Mashrafe Mortaza appears to have been jinxed ever since his $600,000 (£396,000) sale at last year's IPL auction, and the listlessness on view made you wonder why they hadn't picked Syed Rasel, so effective in throttling batting sides on slow Caribbean pitches during the 50-over World Cup three years ago. 1st over: Australia 2-0 (Warner 1, Watson 1) Masrafe Mortaza – who has not long turned 26. Doesn't he seem to have been around forever? – gets things underway for Bangladesh, bowling to the brick outhouse that is David Warner. He's a batsmen built for Twenty20 ( here's Dileep how the Indian Premier League had Warner on their radar before even Australia ), but he flattered to deceive in this year's IPL. He averaged a disappointing 23.28 for Delhi Daredevils in IPL and ended up overshadowed by Dilshan and de Villiers and Mortaza has him in a bit of trouble early on, almost swinging his second ball through the batsman's defence. A stray to leg allows Warner an easy single, but the bowler is back on the money to Shane Watson, lifting one past his outside edge. A nice late cut gets Watson off the mark, but its a fine start for the fielding side. 2nd over: Australia 16-0 (Warner 11, Watson 4) A far more eventful over than the Bangladeshis would have enjoyed. Shafiul Islam offes Watson a long hop first up, but he can't quite get hold of it, bumping the ball to mid on. That was an escape, but there's no such luck for the 20-year-old seamer next - that's a woeful leg-side wide. Then a decent lbw shout. Then Watson has a bit of a moo, wafting the thing over the infield for a couple. There's a drop-and-run before Warner goes flat-batted back over the bowler's head for a big straight six and clump-pummels the last through mid on for four more. 3rd over: Australia 21-1 (Warner 16, Clarke 0) Bangladesh could do with throttling this momentum PDQ and ASAP. Oh, this'll help ... WICKET! Watson 4 c Aftab Ahmed b Mortaza . Watson, attempting to pull Mortaza, can't only top edge hopelessly to square leg, where Aftab makes a fairly regulation catch look as difficult as possible. Short and wide and Warner, looking about as ominous as it's possible to look while wearing yellow PJs, cuts for four. Clarke, who went for just three against Pakistan, watches out two dots. 4th over: Australia 27-2 (Clarke 6, Haddin 0) A change of bowling and Shakib Al Hasan .. has got his man! WICKET! Warner 16 c Aftab Ahmed b Shakib Having been beaten all ends up by Shakib's first Warner attempts to pitch him into the Atlantic, but can only succeed in picking out the man at deep midwicket. It's a superb over from the Bangladesh captain, altering his pace to keep Clarke honest, but from the last ball of the over he offers his Australian counterpart a little too much room and finds himself dumped into the stands at long off. What a shot that was. 5th over: Australia 30-2 (Clarke 7, Haddin 2) Abdur Razzak makes it a left-arm-spin double-act. It's good stuff again from the bowler, not offering anything juicy for the batsmen. Just three singles from the over. 6th over: Australia 35-2 (Clarke 9, Haddin 4) Back to pace and the young Shafiul, who could do with a confidence-boosting cheap over. He's still spraying it about a bit, but these two don't seem inclined to do anything rash at this stage. Aftab Ahmed, whose had a busy time in the field thus far, should really run out Clarke with the batsman a yard or so out, but he rather unconvincingly scoops the ball wide of the stumps. 7th over: Australia 39-3 (Clarke 10, D Hussey 1) WICKET! Haddin 4 c Shafiul b Razzak You know you're about to do something rash, when Ashdown writes that you don't look like doing something rash. Haddin gets himself caught at backward point after an attempted slog sweep. Shockingly unneccessary shot in the circumstances. One wicket, four runs from the over. The old inbox has been silent as the grave pretty quiet thus far. So much so, that even this sort of thing has a chance of being published: "I am both working extremely hard and sunning myself," writes our very own Andy Bull in Bridgetown. "It's absolutely damn roasting here, so hot, in fact, that as a better writer than me once had it, it is as though a stranger had taken a dime and doused it in kerosene, set light to it and said 'here, hold this' and not come back. I've retreated from the stands to the press box. Not many in the ground today, unfortunately, because Bangladesh seem surprisingly game for this contest judging by what we have seen in the first six overs. You could count them in the hundreds not the thousands, and most of those are the schoolkids who get free tickets. I can see one fat Ozzie in a sunhat down in front of me now, trying to teach them all to sing 'Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi!'. The kids look sceptical." 8th over: Australia 45-3 (Clarke 12, D Hussey 4) Mohammad Ashraful's part-time off breaks (part-time as in a couple of hours a week. For a mate. As a favour) and he quickly finds a bit of turn. Six from the over. 9th over: Australia 49-3 (Clarke 15, D Hussey 5) Slightly less than razor-sharp fielding allows Clarke to grab a couple, then Hussey slashes at one from Shakib and is fortunate to see the ball drop short of the man at backward point. Shakib is Bangladesh's latest next big thing, following in the footsteps of Ashraful and Mortaza, neither of whom have really lived up to their early potential. He took wickets and scored runs against England in the winter and has been nice and tidy here so far. Good captaincy too in trying to hide the expensive Shafiul. He's an interesting character too . 10th over: Australia 54-4 (D Hussey 8, White 1) WICKET! Clarke 16 Jahurul Islam b Mohammad Ashraful Tom Lutz comes over to ask for his headphones back, which means a) I'm now borrowing Alan R Gardner's in-ear pair, b) I'm hoping Alan R Gardner doesn't have a nasty inner ear infection, and c) I've missed the dismissal of the Australia captain. Holed out at long off apparently. Two balls later Jahurul could have repeated the trcik, but he puts Hussey down, a bad drop. 11th over: Australia 58-5 (White 4, M Hussey 0) "Last time I sent you an email because you said you hadn't had any you accused me of stalking you so I won't make that mistake again," writes Phil Sawyer. "Oh. Oops." Mortaza again, and another run-out half-chance as Hussey scampers through for a quick one. WICKET! Hussey 9 c Rahim b Mortaza Australia are five down! Another pull, another top edge, and the favourites are in dissarray. Mortaza has figures of 3-0-11-2. There could be some pretty nervous Pakistanis out in the Windies right now. 12th over: Australia 63-5 (White 6, M Hussey 1) The bad news for Bangladesh: five down and you get Mr Cricket coming to the crease. But no fireworks really needed from Shakib Al Hasan's side now, eight tight overs, a wicket here or there, and there'll have a very attractive target to chase down. Ashraful follows the script. Just five from the over. 13th over: Australia 66-6 (M Hussey 3, Smith 1) "I doubt that the the earphones are so 'in-ear' that they would touch the inner ear," writes aural expert Andy Underwood. "You probably need to be wary of a middle ear infection (CSOM most likely) or something in the external auditory meatus." Shakib again. More singles ... and he's bowled him! WICKET! White 8 b Shakib A cracking ball from the young Bangladesh skipper, beating White with flight and no little turn sending the ball whistling past the outside edge. 14th over: Australia 74-6 (M Hussey 9, Smith 3) This wicket-fest means I can display a little of the 'research' I've mustered. The new batsman Smith is a "talented but inexperienced 20-year-old who was called up in the winter despite taking only 11 wickets at 75.18 in nine first-class matches." So there you have it. He can apparently give it a bit of a biff too, and he made need to If the Aussies are to post a respectable total. Hussey gets his front dusty after diving for the line at the end of a quick single. It's been 60 balls since the last boundary. 15th over: Australia 82-6 (M Hussey 16, Smith 3) "Are the Aussies, in any sense, getting humiliated out there?," wonders a hopeful Tom Hopkins. Not really, I'm afraid. They're looking a little shambolic, and very ragged, but it's been down to a very disciplined bowling performance really. Hussey at last breaks the shackles with the first boundary for 61 balls as Razzak continues. The spinner has a shout for lbw against Smith (though it was more nipple before wicket as the batsman squatted for a slog-sweep). It's straight enough but too high. Not out, eight off the over, only the third over of the innings that the Australians have gone better than a run a ball. 16th over: Australia 89-6 (M Hussey 20, Smith 6) Shafiul - eek! - back into the attack, but he beats Hussey nicely with his second ball, and allows a single from the next. That gives Smith the strike, the all-rounder ungainly (think a donkey attempting to climb into a Volkswagen Polo) swatting away a single. A much more attractive shot from the last ball gives him another couple. 17th over: Australia 106-6 (M Hussey 36, Smith 7) If they can get Hussey here, Bangladesh will really be sitting pretty. Mortaza is given the task ... and throws Hussey the juiciest of full tosses, ably and deservedly dispatched to the stands for six square of the wicket. A delicate little sweep from Smith deserves more than the single it earns, but another poor ball - overpitched, leg side - gets the full Hussey treatment and four more to the total. Mr Cricket then produces one of the shots of the day with a gorgeous jabbing late cut for four more. In all, 17 from the over. 18th over: Australia 118-6 (M Hussey 42, Smith 12) "Regarding the photo at the top of your OBO," writes Nick Barlow, "surely the gradient indicated is the same uphill as downhill? I'm no scientist but a gradient of 1:8 one way is surely going to be the same when you're going the other direction?" Fair point, well made. Shakib brings himself back, but this is developing into a quite wonderful innings from Hussey. A reverse sweep rattles away to the boundary. Smith joins the party by dancing down the wicket and planting the ball one-bounce into the stands at long off. This innings is just, just drifting away from Shakib's side, but they can comfort themselves with the fact that they'll still have a decent total to tilt at. 19th over: Australia 132-6 (M Hussey 43, Smith 25) Clump! Smith moos one away for six as Razzak drops short. He repeats the trick a couple of balls later with a carbon copy of a shot. This is the problem with bowling the left-armers at this stage – batsmen can drop down to one knee and heave across with all their might reasonably safely. Fourteen from the over this time. Can Bangladesh keep the total below 150? 20th over: Australia 141-6 (M Hussey 47, Harris 2) "How about this for a double-wammy bet?" writes Geoff Roberts. "England to win the Twenty20 and Brown as PM on Saturday?" Or you could just save yourself the bother and set fire to some money ... Shafiel returns to bowl the final over of this innings. A single from the first, another from the second, and another from the third. And another. And then a couple, Smith surviving a run out chance, the bowler dropping the ball before punching down the wickets. WICKET! Smith run out 27 What should be the final ball of the innings is a wide, the batsmen run it, and Rahim hits from behind the stumps, bringing to an end a very handy innings from Smith. Harris chops away for two from the real last ball. Hussey finishes with 47 from 29 balls. END OF INNINGS: AUSTRALIA 141-7 Right, I'm off for a cup of tea. If my inbox isn't full to the brim by the time I get back, there'll be hell to pay ... Not a one. Not a single one. I know, you've all gone off to follow Manchester City v Tottenham with Paul Doyle . Fine, fine. Go. See if I care. But I know I'd rather be watching Bangladesh's plucky but inevitable defeat than that Champions League play-off at Eastlands ... So. Bangladesh need to knock this off inside 19 overs to put Pakistan, the defending champions, out of the tournament. If something utterly incredible happens and Bangladesh reached the target inside 14 then Australia are out. I have to say, I'm afraid we won't see either. 1st over: Bangladesh 4-1 (Ashraful 0, Aftab Ahmed 0) Shaun Tait kicks things off at terrific pace - it's like someone has hit fast forward. Four leg byes pass Haddin in a blur to get Bangladesh off the mark, then Tait is very fortunate not to give away a wide outside off stump. WICKET! Kayes 0 c D Hussey b Tait Ah. The young left-hander utterly fails to pick the slower ball and chips the easiest of chances into the hands of mid off. Not an ideal start for Bangladesh (in the same way that cheese isn't an ideal substance with which to make a barbeque). "Two work colleagues (one City, one Spurs) have gone to watch the game in various fancy London sports bars," writes Andrew Humphrey. "One's gone to the aptly named "City Pride", the other, outrageously, to Urban Golf. Frankly, if it's that kind of match we're talking about, I'm with Bangladesh all the way." 2nd over: Bangladesh 7-2 (Aftab Ahmed 0, Shakib Al Hasan 3) Ashraful hardly helps matters with a gigantic waft at Nannes – I could've sworn he had his eyes closed – then ... WICKET! Ashraful 0 c Tait b Nannes It looks a clever shot, a lofted edge lifted over the slips. The opener gets too much on it though, and Tait takes a superb diving catch at third man. Oh dear. That brings the skipper out to the middle and at last there's runs off the bat, Shakib driving through the covers for a couple. Here's the Guardian Sports Desk's resident Aussie Dave Middleton: "Sitting at a 45 degree angle from a huge TV showing the game live, but am being worked so hard I'm following the cricket more by the OBO than live TV action," he writes. "Wrong, wrong, wrong." I'm not entirely sure how to take that ... 3rd over: Bangladesh 13-2 (Aftab Ahmed 1, Shakib Al Hasan 6) "I'm supposed to be heading out for a beer tonight but it's raining rather heavily right now in South East France. Thus, you have my total undivided attention until it eases up," writes Michael Plevin. "Oh, and I'm off to England tomorrow. Is there anything going on there that I should know about? I'd hate to be behind the conversation." It's my five-a-side night, that's something. I'm planning to vote in my shorts as the polling station is on the way to the bus stop. In future years people will say: 'How did you vote in that famous election of 2010?' and I'll be able to reply: 'In my shorts, my friend. In my shorts.'" Tait returns and is close to a parody of himself: lightning fast, but spraying it around like champagne on the F1 podium. Another couple of wides help Bangladesh along and Shakib plays a couple of decent shots to get the scoreboard ticking over. 4th over: Bangladesh 16-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 6, Rahim 1) "Actually, cubes of paneer cheese on skewers, maybe with some slices of red pepper and red onion make a rather nice barbecue dish especially with a bit of a spicy marinade on the veg," writes Phil Sawyer. "Turn em so they're nice and smoked all round." Halloumi for me, superb over the old hot coals. Er, anyway, meanwhile Bangladesh continue to fold quicker than Road Runner doing origami. WICKET! Aftab Ahmed 1 c Warner b Nannes A horrible shot from the No3, looping a simple chance to Warner after top-edging an ugly swipe at Nannes. This could be over very quickly. WICKET! Mahmudullah 2 c M Hussey b Nannes Another swing across the line, another top edge, another wicket goes down. This really is a sorry effort so far. 5th over: Bangladesh 25-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 7, Rahim 7) Tait again, and another wide. A single, and another wide means extras are top scorer for Bangladesh at the minute. In fact, Shaun Tait's extras might just be top scorer. When he gets it right, he's dangerous, jamming the ball up near the handle of the bat, but when he's not on song it all looks very ugly. Rahim lofts a short one over the slips, managing what Ashraful failed to do earlier on. Four runs, eight off the over. 6th over: Bangladesh 27-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 8, Rahim 8) Nannes (2-0-6-3) continues, Shakib and Rahim look to get a foothold in the game, but with the former Holland man is bowling very, very well, it's like trying to get a foothold in a cliff of lard. Just two from the over. 7th over: Bangladesh 39-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 17, Rahim 11) Relief for the batsman as Michael Clarke takes the ball. Single, single, dot, single, woof! What a hit from Shakib, planting that front foot and launching Clarke into the stands for six! He tries to repeat the trick next up, but can't quite get hold of it, some excellent fielding from Warner denying the Bangladesh skipper another boundary. 8th over: Bangladesh 43-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 19, Rahim 13) Ryan Harris comes into the attack, Shakib survives a run out chance, with Warner just missing with a shy at the stumps. The run rate for victory is up over eight an over, but if Bangladesh want to reach the Super Eights, they'll need to go even quicker than that. "So, it seems to have stopped raining here and given that this match is heading towards a rather predictable conclusion I will have to bid you adieu," writes Michael Plevin, cutting the readership of this OBO by around 50%. "Cue a massive down pour that washes me into the Isere and an astonishing 1 wicket, 18th over victory for Bangladesh. I think I know which of those two events would get the most newspaper inches." 9th over: Bangladesh 50-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 26, Rahim 13) Smith into the attack, Shakib punts him to the boundary for two, then clips him off his pads for a single. The bowler keeps it tidy, though. Seven from the over. 10th over: Bangladesh 61-4 (Shakib Al Hasan 27, Rahim 23) Harris again, and a huge, rather unneccessary air-waft from Shakib is followed by yet another top edge. This one drops safe. There's no need for the batsmen to lose their heads at this stage. That's more like it! Rahim straight clubs (you couldn't really call it a drive) back over the bowler's head for six of the best. Harris responds with a yorker, but then goes wide once more, Rahim chopping away for four more. These two could make this interesting yet. 11th over: Bangladesh 64-5 (Rahim 24, Naeem Islam 1) These two have puts on 47 from 38 balls now. But it's all over! WICKET! Shakib Al Hasan 28 c M Hussey b Smith An excellent diving catch in the deep as Shakib looks for another maximum. That is a hammer blow. 12th over: Bangladesh 70-6 (Rahim 24, Jahurul Islam 0) "You mention the run rate, but isn't that another thing that is a bit notional in T20?" writes Robin Hazlehurst. "It is so high because Mr Cricket got jiggy for an over or two, six balls of humpty from the Banglas will see it become very respectable again. Our traditional understanding of stats flies out the window like a form book in such matches." What a shot that is from Naeem Islam, six hammered over cow corner. WICKET! 7 c Smith b D Hussey Well that was short and sweet. He tried the same trick but got underneath it and it was a simple catch for Smith. 13th over: Bangladesh 81-6 (Rahim 24, Jahurul Islam 10) Smith windmills in once more, and Jahurul can't get him away. He resorts to a monumental swipe ... and connects cleanly: six runs! A horrible dragged down wide from Smith adds another to the total. 11 from the over. 14th over: Bangladesh 83-7 (Jahurul Islam 11, Shafiul Islam 1) Some aspects of this shortest form of the game are to be admired, but this plant foot, bend knee, heave hard stuff is ruddy tedious at times. WICKET! Rahim 24 c M Hussey b D Hussey Rahim is the latest to go, planting, bending, heaving, top-edging, depressing. 15th over: Bangladesh 92-7 (Jahurul Islam 12, Shafiul Islam 9) Harris again, and Jahurul plays one of the best shots of this innings, cover driving beautifully for four. Fifty more required in 30 balls.. 16th over: Bangladesh 100-8 (Jahurul Islam 13, Mortaza 0) Smith to Shafiul ... and another six! The slow motion shows Shafiul's wide boyish eyes focussed on the ball as he plants the spinner back over his head, but they may well have been scrunched tight as he flails at the next. WICKET! Shafiul Islam b Smith 16 Played on as he danced down the pitch. One very noticeable facet of this Australian attack is the speed at which the bowlers are ready to deliver. It's so quick that it must be deliberate, and it really doesn't give the batsmen time to settle, survey the field and get cosy at the crease. 17th over: Bangladesh 110-9 (Mortaza 1, Razzak 4) Another lovely shot from the impressive Jahurul sends Nannes whistling away for four through cover. WICKET! Jahurul c Clarke b Nannes 18 How many top-edges is that? Jahurul does the whole plant, bend etc, etc with inevitable consequences. Razzak edges Nannes's last ball for four, but this is all over. 18th over: Bangladesh 110-9 (Mortaza 1, Razzak 4) Nannes finishes with figures of 4-0-18-4. He bowled well, but the batsmen certainly gave him a helping hand towards those healthy stats. Tait returns, and sends down a maiden. Yes, really. 19th over: Bangladesh 114 all out These two need 32 from 12, or 32 from six effectively. Mortaza gets Harris away for a single, so 31 from five. Still doable (is this adding any drama?). A misfield gives Razzak a couple. 29 needed from four (it's not is it?). Another single, so 28 from three (no, clearly not). WICKET! Mortaza 6 b Harris An attempted step-across-and-flick-to-leg sees Mortaza castled. AUSTRALIA WIN BY 27 RUNS So Australia and Pakistan go through . It was never in much doubt after that late Hussey onslaught in the Australia innings, but Bangladesh still let themselves down with their effort, Shakib and Rahim apart. Ah well, no fairytale story from this World Twenty20 then. Thanks as ever for all your emails, even the ones about barbequed cheese. G'night!