Published: Feb 20, 2015, 01:05 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 20, 2015, 01:08 PM (IST)
Australia, in red hot form take on a confident Bangladesh in a Pool A encounter of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Brisbane. Naturally Australia start overwhelming favourites. The markets corroborate the belief, as the odds against the visitors are 500 to one. But Bangladesh have the potential to pull a rabbit out of the hat. The match, unfortunately also involves an imponderable, as the threat of rain looms large over the contest. Catch the live scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary of the match here
Currently Brisbane is experiencing some indifferent weather. Multiple cyclone cells have formed around Australia’s north-east coast and The Weather Channel have predicted 80% chances of rain on February 21. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
To be frank, Bangladesh won’t mind this at all. One can’t imagine their top order queuing up to face the trinity of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, on a pitch which has been under cover for last few few days. They will be satisfied with a point without facing the prospect of a broken *** arm or two. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
Australia have even hinted at including their fourth pacer Pat Cummins at The Gabba and one can understand the temptation. Also Michael Clarke, their regular skipper has been declared fit to take part in this encounter. So it is obvious, Shakib-al-Hasan and co. have a herculean task ahead of a match against a team that’s yet to be beaten this year.
Bangladesh are likely to field an unchanged side. Their pace department looked quite impressive against Afghanistan. But against the likes of David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, it would be a different ball game. Also their batsmen have to bring out their A game, to have any chance against that Aussie pace attack. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
Australia and Bangladesh commenced their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaigns with wins over England and Afghanistan respectively and they would like to continue their momentum. A washout will disappoint Michael Clarke for whom a game against Bangladesh is an ideal opportunity to feel his way into the tournament and Australia who have tougher games lined up subsequently.
Squads:
Australia: Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riaz, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Arafat Sunny
Time: 14:30 local |03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
