Australia beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets in T20 opener

Bangladesh suffered a five-wicket defeat against Australia after their batting failure left the hosts with a below-par total in the first T20 international at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss under new T20 captain Tawhid Hridoy, Bangladesh were bowled out for 131 in 19 overs. In reply, Australia reached the target with 10 balls and four wickets in hand.

Bangladesh struggled from the beginning as their batting lineup failed to build any significant partnership. Sheikh Mehedi Hasan top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 29, while the lower order helped take the total beyond the 100-run mark.

The Tigers lost opener Tanzid Tamim for 26 runs before Saif Hasan departed after scoring 39. After the openers' dismissals, captain Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar, Parvez Hossain Emon and Shamim Hossain failed to make a major contribution.

Australia's spinners tightened the grip in the middle overs, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 78 for six. Debutant Abdul Gaffar Saklain briefly raised hopes with a six, but Bangladesh soon found themselves eight wickets down before crossing the 100-run mark.

Mehedi Hasan tried to rescue the innings with a fighting unbeaten 29, while contributions from Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam helped Bangladesh reach 131 before being bowled out.

Australia also had a shaky start in the chase, losing Josh Inglis for 13 runs after he was bowled by Shoriful Islam. However, the visitors maintained the required run rate, scoring 47 runs in the powerplay despite losing Mitchell Marsh to Mustafizur.

Cooper Connolly continued his strong form from the ODI series, scoring 47 off 27 balls and playing a key role in Australia's victory. Though he missed out on a half-century, his aggressive innings put Australia in control.

Bangladesh fought back with wickets in the middle overs. Saklain claimed his first international wicket by dismissing Connolly, while Sheikh Mehedi removed Tim David. Rishad Hossain and Saklain also contributed with wickets, but the effort was not enough to stop Australia.

For Bangladesh, Saklain was the leading wicket-taker with two wickets, while Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Sheikh Mehedi and Rishad Hossain claimed one each.

Australia's experienced leg-spinner Adam Zampa was the standout bowler, taking three wickets and reaching the milestone of 150 T20 international wickets. Joel Davies also picked up three wickets, while Renshaw took two and Nikhil and Johnson claimed one each.

The defeat gave Australia a winning start to the series, while Bangladesh will look to bounce back in the remaining matches.

TZ