A rejuvenated Bangladesh will take on a high-flying Australian side in the 26th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Nottingham on Thursday. Both sides are coming into this encounter on the back of thumping victories. While Bangladesh won comfortably against the Windies by seven wickets, riding Shakib Al Hasan's all-round brilliance, Australia decimated the Sri Lankans to notch up an 87-run victory. Australia are in a better position though. They are placed second with eight points in five matches, whereas Bangladesh are at fifth with five points in an equal number of matches as well.
Australia's top order has been in top notch form with both David Warner and Aaron Finch averaging above 50. Steve Smith is not far behind and is averaging 48.60 as well. Their bowlers have been picking up wickets consistently as well. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are first and third in the list of most wickets in the competition so far. Kane Richardson has replaced the injured Marcus Stoinis and has picked up five wickets in two matches as well.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, have mostly depended on Shakib Al Hasan's exploits. He is the highest run-getter in the tournament with 384 runs at an average of 128. However, the other batsmen have started stepping up too. Liton Das made an unbeaten 94 in the last match. Tamim Iqbal scored a good looking 45 as well. Their bowling has been a concern though as it has consistently leaked runs.
A rejuvenated Bangladesh will take on a high-flying Australian side in the 26th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Nottingham on Thursday. Both sides are coming into this encounter on the back of thumping victories. While Bangladesh won comfortably against the Windies by seven wickets, riding Shakib Al Hasan's all-round brilliance, Australia decimated the Sri Lankans to notch up an 87-run victory. Australia are in a better position though. They are placed second with eight points in five matches, whereas Bangladesh are at fifth with five points in an equal number of matches as well.
Australia's top order has been in top notch form with both David Warner and Aaron Finch averaging above 50. Steve Smith is not far behind and is averaging 48.60 as well. Their bowlers have been picking up wickets consistently as well. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are first and third in the list of most wickets in the competition so far. Kane Richardson has replaced the injured Marcus Stoinis and has picked up five wickets in two matches as well.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, have mostly depended on Shakib Al Hasan's exploits. He is the highest run-getter in the tournament with 384 runs at an average of 128. However, the other batsmen have started stepping up too. Liton Das made an unbeaten 94 in the last match. Tamim Iqbal scored a good looking 45 as well. Their bowling has been a concern though as it has consistently leaked runs. Although Mohammad Saifuddin is their highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 9 scalps to his name, he has leaked runs at over 7 runs an over. Mustafizur Rahman has also gone at over 7 runs per over and a tally of only seven wickets till now doesn't do justice to his potential as well.
Weather and Pitch conditions: Rain has been forecasted for Thursday. It remains to be seen if we can get a shortened game. The pitch will obviously help seamers in such conditions as it will remain covered for most of the time.
Player Recommendations:
Wicket-Keeper: Liton Das (8 Cr)
He scored a terrific unbeaten 94 in the previous match. Although he has a career ODI average of only 25.11, he has been averaging over 40 this year.
Batsman: David Warner (10.5 Cr)
The Southpaw has scored 281 runs in the tournament at an average of 70.25. It includes a century as well and he would be eager to continue his good run forward.
All-rounder: Shakib Al Hasan (10 Cr)
The Bangladeshi all-rounder has been averaging 128 with the bat in this tournament and his tally of 384 runs so far included two centuries and an equal number of fifties as well. He has five wickets to his name to go with those runs as well.
Bowler: Mitchell Starc (9.5 Cr)
The left-handed pacer is the highest wicket-taker in the competition at the moment. He has 13 wickets so far at an excellent average of 19.15 and looks hungry for more.
Captain: David Warner
Vice-Captain: Mitchell Starc
Predicted Playing XI:
Australia: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman
