Short scorecard
Australia 219/6 (Watson 52, Haddin 47, M Clarke 35) Mahmudullah 4/37;
Bangladesh 181/7 (Shakib 54, Mahmudullah 31*, Ashraful 26) Johnson 3/21.
Australia will face Bangladesh in their first warm up match on 1 June ahead of twenty20 world cup 2009 which starts from 5 June 2009. Bangladesh team has already played 3 warm up games against Netherlands, New Zealand and Scotland. Winning two of the three matches, Bangladesh’s preparation for the twenty20 world cup has been pretty much satisfactory.
Match: Australia vs Bangladesh, Warm up Match, ICC World Twenty20 2009
Date: 1 June 2009
Venue: Nottingham, London
Kick off: 12:30 GMT (Local Time 13:30)
You might think that the match against Australia may not be an exciting match, given Bangladesh’s underdog status. Well, herein lies the excitement of twenty20 format of the game. Difference between two teams in t20 decreases significantly because the situation in the shortest version of the game could change after every few overs. I do not think that Australia would take Bangladesh lightly. Rather, they would like to have a very good preparation before heading to start their world twenty20 mission on 6 June.
Bangladesh lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets in the first practice match, but defeated Netherlands and Scotland with sheer comfort as Bangladesh clinched a 64 runs victory over the Dutch before winning over Scotland by 6 wickets. One thing is for sure that Bangladesh and Australia both would like to test their squad strength.
All rounder Mahmudullah and pacer Rubel Hossain are the biggest gainers of Bangladesh’s previous three practice matches. Mahmudullah scored 43, 56 and 46 in the warm up games, while Rubel Hossain picked up 9 wickets from 2 games. The main problem of Bangladesh team is their opening slot. Tamim Iqbal got some runs, but neither Junaid Siddique nor uncapped Shamsur Rahman could click in the practice matches. However, I think, Shamsur Rahman should be given another chance, even though the opener failed against Scotland. All rounder Naeem Islam played in the first warm up match against New Zealand and I think, he also deserves another game before the final event kicks off. Pacer Shahadat Hossain has not got any game yet and I think, it is necessary to give him a practice match.
Australia has a very strong squad compared to Bangladesh. Led by Ricky Ponting, the team features the all rounders like Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson and James Hopes. There are twenty20 specialists like David Hussey and David Warner. Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson have come back, and I think, they will be given a chance against Bangladesh. Nathan Hauritz, who is the only specialist spinner in the squad, would feature tomorrow. James Hopes had some good games in IPL 2009, and I think, he should also be given a game before the final event of twenty20 world cup starts.
Online live score and updates
I do not know which websites would give live score and updates of the match because I did not see any website giving live score of the practice matches. Even I did not find the live score of the warm up matches in Cricinfo. However, if the match between Australia and Bangladesh is shown live on television, then you would find live score in this website.
There is no doubt, Australia is favorite against Bangladesh, but it does not mean that you are going to see a one-sided match. Given the performance of Bangladesh team in the recent practice matches, I think, cricket fans could experience a very close game, if not an upset.
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