Connolly leads Australia to four-wicket win over Bangladesh in T20 opener / Photo: STR - AFP
Connolly leads Australia to four-wicket win over Bangladesh in T20 opener
Cooper Connolly struck a rapid-fire 47 off 27 balls to steer Australia to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh in the opening T20 international on Wednesday.
Australia chased down 132 with 10 balls to spare, finishing on 133-6 in 18.2 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Connolly anchored the chase after early setbacks, hitting four fours and three sixes before falling three runs short of a maiden half-century.
Bangladesh made early inroads as Shoriful Islam dismissed Josh Inglis for five before Mustafizur Rahman removed Mitchell Marsh for 13, leaving Australia at 38-2 inside five overs.
Connolly rebuilt the innings in a 40-run third-wicket stand with Tim David, who made 20 before falling to Mehidy Hasan.
Connolly then pushed Australia towards the target before he was caught attempting a six off debutant Abdul Gaffar Saqlain.
Australia stumbled again as Matt Renshaw and debutant Nikhil Chaudhary both fell for 18, with Saqlain and Rishad Hossain striking to keep Bangladesh in the contest.
But debutant Joel Davies and Xavier Bartlett saw the visitors home in 18.2 overs, finishing unbeaten on seven and four respectively.
Davies said Australia's bowlers had adapted their plans to the venue's dimensions.
"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.
Saqlain returned 2-32, while Shoriful, Mustafizur, Mehidy and Rishad took one wicket each.
Earlier, Australia's spinners dominated as Bangladesh were bowled out for 131 after electing to bat.
Adam Zampa (3-18) and Davies (3-17) led the attack, with Australia's spinners taking nine wickets, the most by Australian spin bowlers in a T20I innings.
Bangladesh lost momentum after a brisk powerplay, finishing with only 131 despite reaching 52 in six overs.
Mehidy top-scored with an unbeaten 29, while stand-in captain Towhid Hridoy, captain in place of the injured Litton Das, made eight.
Bangladesh pace bowling coach Talha Jubair said the hosts failed to build on a promising powerplay.
"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.
T.McGilberry--NG
