Despite the chances of rain falling in the later part of the day and D/L method expected to have its say, the Bangladesh skipper won the toss and decided to bat first due to the fact that the pitch for the game had already been used earlier, which he reckoned that will favour his team when they will come out to bat later.
Bangladesh bolstered their spin line-up by adding Mehedi Hasan to their side, who can get the job done when the track will slow down later. Skipper was critical of the fact that they lost their last game despite posting a total of 305 on the board, due to the main fact that they were a bowler short.
Australian skipper Steven Smith too wanted to bat first but he had to bowl. Just like their opposition, Australia too brought in a spinner in the form of Adam Zampa, surprisingly benching John Hastings.
Bangladesh has to win this game to keep their chances of qualifying for the next round. On the other side, Australia will look to defeat minnows and move one step ahead of sealing a berth in the next round.
Here is what both the captains said at the time of the toss –
Steven Smith: We would’ve had a bat as well. A bit overcast and it would be nice if we can get the ball swinging which it hasn’t so far. A used wicket this so we thought it should take some spin. Hence Zampa comes in for Hastings. We were a bit off the other day and have some class bowlers with us who can turn it on for us. We usually play well in these high-pressure games. Every game is a must-win the game for us from now and we should go well.
Mashrafe Mashrafe: We’d like to bat first. It looks like a very good wicket to bat on and should slow up a bit later on; so a pretty straightforward decision to bat first. One change – Mehedi Hasan comes in for Mosaddek. We felt we were a bowler short despite scoring 305 the last time. We have an exciting spinner coming in and hopefully, he’d do the job for us. We are looking to bat first, score big and then defend the total. The Australia match (2005) was a long time ago but we’ll look to take confidence from that. We do not have much of an option today, it is a do-or-die match for us.
Here is the playing XI of both the sides –
Australia Playing XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith(c), Moises Henriques, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Bangladesh Playing XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain