In match 43 of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, Australia and Bangladesh faced off on Saturday, November 11, at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
After winning the toss, Pat Cummins elected to bowl first. After missing the previous match, Steve Smith made his way back into the starting lineup, and Sean Abbott made his ODI World Cup debut. Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell were rested for this meaningless match. Nasum Ahmed took the place of Shakib Al Hasan, who was declared out of the competition due to a finger injury sustained in the team’s most recent match against Sri Lanka. Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan also rejoined the team.
Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan gave Bangladesh a quick start, scoring 76 runs in 11.2 overs. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the acting skipper, looked impressive during his 45-run knock, but he was sadly run out. At number four in the batting order, Towhid Hridoy produced an outstanding innings of 74 from 79 balls. Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz made valuable contributions, enabling Bangladesh to reach a respectable score of 306/8 in 50 overs. With outstanding figures of 2/32 in his ten overs, Adam Zampa stood out. Abbott was costly, but he also took two wickets, while Marcus Stoinis also contributed by taking Hridoy out.
In response, Australia lost Travis Head after he pulled a ball off Taskin Ahmed’s bowling onto the stumps in the third over. But Australia took the lead thanks to a 123-run partnership off 102 balls from Mitchell Marsh and the highly effective David Warner. Despite the southpaw’s 53 off 61 balls departure, Marsh carried on destroying the Bangladeshi bowlers en route to an incredible century. In fact, after he reached his hundred, he didn’t back down. After Marsh scored 177* off 132 balls and Steve Smith finished undefeated at 63 off 64 balls, the “Men in Yellow” won by eight wickets with 5.2 overs remaining.
Losing Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said:
(Where things went wrong today) I think for me the two run outs were crucial. The way we started was good but after the two run outs, we lost momentum. If we score 340-350, it could have been different. We did not bowl well in the middle overs (the spinners especially). The fast bowlers bowled well. We need to improve in the middle overs.
We did not play our best at the World cup as a team, in both bowing and batting. Want to look at what we can do better moving forward. Mahmudullah batted really well in the World Cup. Shakib bowled really well in a couple of matches. It is not about individual performances. We will look back at all nine matches and see where we have to improve as a team.
Winning Skipper Pat Cummins said:
It feels great. We thought it was a really good wicket and thought we could get that total. All 15 players have played this tournament now and we go up to Kolkata, re-assess and perhaps a few selection headaches there. He (Mitchell Marsh) played beautifully and the tempo he played with was sustainable and the way he finished off the innings, it’s a scary prospect to have him next week. 7 games in a row, I think chasing 300 was something really special and everything is clicking together.
POTM Mitchell Marsh said:
It feels great, obviously to finish off the league games with another win was great for the boys. It was important for me to back myself at 3, knowing when Head comes back, I’ll have to go down to 3. Have failed a few times, but have backed myself to perform. Sure my mum and dad would be watching back home and they would be happy with this, my grandpop (who passed away last week) was a great man and I’m sure he’d be happy out there.
I think we’re peaking well at the moment and looking forward to the semi-finals in Kolkata. It’s rare that you’d win the Man of the Match award after going for nearly fifty from 4 overs, but I would want to contribute more to the team.
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