Connolly guides Australia to four-wicket win over Bangladesh in first T20I

CHATTOGRAM: Cooper Connolly struck 47 from 27 balls as Australia beat Bangladesh by four wickets in the opening T20 International on Wednesday, completing a chase of 132 with 10 balls remaining to move 1-0 ahead in the three-match series.

Australia reached 133-6 in 18.2 overs after Bangladesh’s bowlers made early dents. Shoriful Islam removed Josh Inglis for five, while Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Mitchell Marsh for 13, reducing the visitors to 38-2 inside the first five overs.

Connolly then steadied the innings and added 40 runs for the third wicket with Tim David, who made 20 before falling to Mehidy Hasan. The left-hander hit four fours and three sixes before he was caught trying to clear the ropes off debutant Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, finishing three runs short of a half-century.

Bangladesh stayed in the contest when Matt Renshaw and debutant Nikhil Chaudhary both scored 18 before getting out, with Saqlain and Rishad Hossain taking wickets. But debutant Joel Davies and Xavier Bartlett remained unbeaten on seven and four respectively to carry Australia home.

Saqlain finished with 2-32, while Shoriful, Mustafizur, Mehidy and Rishad claimed one wicket each.

Australia spinners restrict Bangladesh

Earlier, Bangladesh were bowled out for 131 in 19 overs after choosing to bat first. Australia’s spinners dominated the innings, with Adam Zampa taking 3-18 and Davies returning 3-17. According to the match report, Australian spin bowlers accounted for nine wickets, their most in a T20I innings.

Bangladesh made a lively start and were 52 at the end of the powerplay, but their innings lost momentum after that. Mehidy top-scored with an unbeaten 29, while stand-in captain Towhid Hridoy, leading the side in place of the injured Litton Das, made eight.

Davies said after the match that Australia’s bowlers had adjusted to the conditions and dimensions at the venue. “Here in Bangladesh, the grounds are a fair bit smaller than in Australia, so if there were any parts of the ground that were slightly bigger, I had to use that to my advantage,” he said after the match.

Bangladesh pace bowling coach Talha Jubair said the hosts had not built on their strong start. “Our powerplay was excellent, we scored 52 in six overs, but from there we could not carry on,” he said.

“We went too far for boundaries when we could have built a partnership. We lost three wickets between overs seven and 15, where we needed to build our innings,” he said.

Bangladesh’s batting card included 20 from Saif Hassan, 17 from Soumya Sarkar and 10 each from Parvez Hossain and Abdul Gaffar. For Australia, besides Zampa and Davies, Matt Renshaw picked up 2-26, Spencer Johnson claimed one wicket, and Nikhil Chaudhary took 1-14.

Zampa was named man of the match as Australia took the lead in the series.