Marsh leads Australia to 3-0 T20 series sweep over Bangladesh

CHATTOGRAM: Mitchell Marsh hammered 60 from 28 deliveries as Australia sealed a 3-0 clean sweep in the Twenty20 series against Bangladesh with a seven-wicket win in Chattogram on Sunday.

Having already secured the series by taking the opening two matches, Australia made short work of a target of 110, reaching it in only 11 overs. Josh Inglis and Marsh set the chase in motion with aggressive strokeplay, taking on Bangladesh’s pace attack from the beginning and laying the platform for a swift finish.

Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed provided Bangladesh with the first breakthrough when he dismissed Inglis for 17 after the opening pair had put on 54. Marsh, captaining the side, kept up the charge and brought up his 14th T20 half-century in just 23 balls before Shoriful Islam ended his innings on 60. Cooper Connolly then made 15 before Matt Renshaw and Tim David completed the chase. Renshaw was unbeaten on six, while David struck 12 off three balls. Nasum, Shoriful Islam and Rishad Hossain took one wicket each for the hosts.

Earlier, Bangladesh suffered a top-order collapse and were rescued by stand-in captain Towhid Hridoy, who remained unbeaten on 61 from 51 balls. Only Towhid and Rishad managed to reach double figures as the hosts, with only pride left to play for, struggled to build a competitive total.

Marsh said after the match that Australia’s bowlers had created the foundation for the victory and indicated that Spencer Johnson, who returned 2-6 in his four overs, could also have been a worthy choice for the player-of-the-match award.

“I thought we were fantastic with the ball today,” Marsh said.

Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons said the series had highlighted major shortcomings in his team’s batting despite being satisfied with aspects of their approach in the previous game.

“I think in the last game, even though we lost, I was still happy with the attitude both on the field and when we chased,” he said.

“But... the first game and this game, the batting especially, we haven’t given anything to our bowlers to work with", he added.