David Warner stroked a quickfire half-century as Australia outclassed Bangladesh by 28 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit Super 8 Group 1 match of the T20 World Cup in Antigua, on Friday.
The dashing opener smashed an unbeaten 53 off 35 balls, while Glenn Maxwell scored an unbeaten 14 as Australia raced to 100 for 2 in 11.2 overs in their run-chase of 141 before heavy rain prevented further play at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Earlier, Pat Cummins took a hat-trick to restrict Bangladesh 140 for 8 in their 20 overs on a sluggish pitch. The pacer took three wickets for 29 runs, while leg-spinner Adam Zampa bagged 2 for 24.
Warner and Travis Head gave Australia a flying start, putting on 65 runs for the opening wicket off 41 balls.
The left-handed duo went after the Bangladesh bowlers in the Powerplay with a flurry of boundaries in the early overs.</>
Warner showed his intent as he reverse-swept off-spinner Mahedi Hasan for a boundary in the first over before being dropped in the next at point off pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib's bowling.
Warner made Bangladesh pay for that lapse and he slog-swept Mahedi for a six over midwicket in his next over.
Head also got into the act, slamming pacer Taskin Ahmed for a four and six in the fourth over.
Head continued the attack, hitting Mustafizur Rahman for a straight six followed by a boundary over point in the fifth over.
Warner slogged Mahedi for his second six as Australia looked in complete control on 59 for no loss in six overs.
Rain halted play briefly for nearly 20 minutes before leg-spinner Rishad Hossain revived Bangladesh's hopes with the wickets of Head (31) and captain Mitchell Marsh (1) in successive overs.
But Warner kept attacking the bowlers and brought up his fifty in grand style with a six off Taskin over midwicket from 34 balls.
However, rain brought an early end to the proceedings and Australia started their Super 8 campaign with a confident victory despite the weather.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh won the toss and put Bangladesh in.
Australia made two changes to the side that beat Scotland, Cummins returning to the line-up with Josh Hazlewood.
As he so often does, Mitchell Starc got an early breakthrough for the Aussies, bowling Tanzin Hasan with the third ball of the innings. In doing so, he moved past Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga to outright first for wickets in men’s World Cups, both ODI and T20Is.
Despite the early breakthrough Bangladesh did well to steady themselves through Liton Das and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Shanto crunched Josh Hazlewood for a six to kick-start the fourth over, while two fours in the fifth over had Bangladesh ticking over.
Their partnership lasted through to the end of the Powerplay as the Asian side crossed the six-over mark with 39 for 1.
Shanto took up the reins as Bangladesh pushed past 50, before the stand finally ended when Adam Zampa spun one through Das's defences in the ninth over.
The Tigers still had plenty of work to do at the half-way stage after Rishad Hossain giving away his wicket on the final delivery before drinks &ndash. Bangladesh were at 67 for 3 at that stage.
Zampa then removed Shanto (41 off 36) to end over 13, putting pressure on the Bangladesh middle order.
Towhid Hridoy tried hard to up the pace, dragging his side’s total into three figures in the 16th over.
Cummins then stepped in and took two quick scalps to end Australia’s 18th over. He dismissed Hridoy on return to start over 20, registering the tournament's first hat-trick. It capped off a strong fightback for the pacer.
