Twenty20 World Cup / Edward Hammond-Kenny / 04 May 2010 /

The stats and recent performances suggest this match is heading Australia's way but get those two Aussie openers out early and you never know, says Edward Hammomd-Kenny.

Venue and Conditions

The final day of the initial group stage of the World Cup sees Australia take on Bangladesh in a game that in theory still has relevance for group qualification, though that would require the highly unlikely scenario of a comprehensive Bangladesh win. The game is the first match of the tournament at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, a ground with a famous history, though now redeveloped into a sanitised modern cricket venue. The warm-up matches were generally turgid, low-scoring affairs with spin bowlers proving most effective.


Team News

Australia have no real need to make changes but they may want to give their premier spinner Nathan Hauritz an outing on a friendly surface.

The Bangaldesh attack proved toothless against Pakistan but its hard to see any obvious replacements in a squad dominated by on the whole by part-time spin bowlers.

Match Odds

As you would expect Australia are heavy favourites to win, they are available to back at [1.15] while Bangladesh are on offer at [7.2].

If Bangladesh want to upset the odds then they are going to have to try and get both Aussie openers out cheaply. David Warner and Shane Watson are probably the most dangerous opening pair in the competition and only know one way to bat: hit the ball hard and far as often as possible. If they are in for all the powerplay overs the game could already be beyond the Tigers.

Australia will expect their pace battery of Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson to rip through a Bangladesh batting unit not known for its prowess against hostile, quick bowling.

Top Batsman

Warner and Watson will rightly head the market for top Aussie bat as they will get the maximum opportunity to gorge on the Bangladesh bowlers' offerings. With spin likely to play a part early in the innings though Watson would be the pick of the two as he is more effective than Warner against the turning ball. Aussie skipper Michael Clarke failed in the first game but his ability to occupy the crease and rotate the strike shouldn't be overlooked.

Of the Bangladesh batsman the one who can take the fight to the Aussie bowlers is Tamim Iqbal. He enjoys pace onto the bat and will try and dominate, though he will take risks in the process. The other in-form Tigers' batsman are Mohammed Ashraful, who scored an excellent 65 against Pakistan and skipper Shakib Al Hasan, whose knock of 47 in the same match was scored in double quick time.

Featured Market

If Australia bat first then it may well make sense to get on Over 68.5 on the Highest Individual Score market, given their preference for fast early scoring.

Trivia

In one of the most spectacular collpases ever, Australia lost their last five wickets in the final six balls of their innings against Pakistan without scoring a run, though it had no impact on the result given their already imposing total.

Best Bet

Ed Hammond-Kenny says: Back Shakib al Hasan to top score for Bangladesh at [5.5] or better.

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