Australia’s tour of Bangladesh – Review – Part 1
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 looked to recover from their disappointing ICC World Cup 2011 campaign as they toured one of the host nations of the tournament, Bangladesh.
Under the leadership of Michael Clarke who took over the long reign of captaincy from Ricky Pointing, the Australians knew that nothing less than three convincing wins in the One Day International series would suffice.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 on the other hand looked to build on their performance in the World Cup, where they narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals after finishing fifth in Group B. Only their run rate had denied the side a place in the last eight in a campaign
that had everything, from humiliating defeats to a historic win against England.
First ODI – a Captain’s Knock
The First ODI was played at one of the venues of the World Cup itself, the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. After winning the toss Bangladeshi Captain, Shakib Al http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 elected to field in the first innings hoping to restrict the Australians to a
low total.
The Bangladeshi team needed an early wicket to get some momentum going and thanks to a brilliant delivery by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mashrafe-Mortaza-c1917, they did just that. Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin was clean bowled for just 10 runs as Bangladesh had the advantage in the
fourth over.
Veteran batsman Ricky Ponting made his way to the crease next for the batting side as all eyes were on the now former Australian captain to see how he would react to life without the responsibility of captaincy.
‘Freeing’ is one word that could be used to describe it as he smashed five boundaries and a six on his way to relatively quick 34 runs. Ponting batted with a balance of aggression and poise that reminded everyone who was watching that it was and always has
been his performances that have earned him a place in the Australian side.
The partnership between opening batsman Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting contributed 65 runs as the Australians recovered from the loss of Brad Haddin’s early wicket. Bangladesh desperately needed a wicket by this stage and their lack luster bowling attack
seemed ineffective against the opposition.
They had the wicket in the 12th over when the fielding, not the bowling came up trumps for the Bangladeshi side. Ricky Ponting departed for 34 runs after being run out by a combination of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mushfiqur-Rahim-c2045.
Ponting’s batting partner Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 joined him in the pavilion in the second ball of the 14th over when he was trapped leg before wicket by Abdur Razzak for 37 runs. The knock included two sixes and three fours, an important statistic to note
as the Aussie batsmen would add to it in some style in the next match.
Though the Bangladeshi team was not in complete control of the game, the two quick wickets helped shift the momentum of the game, somewhat in the home side’s favour.
It was the newly appointed Captain Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120’s time to enter the fray as he, in almost poetic fashion replaced Ricky Ponting at the crease. Clarke was under intense scrutiny as to whether he would be able to emulate the former Captain’s success, and
although everyone knew it was too soon to make that analysis it did not stop the speculation.
Continued in Australia’s tour of Bangladesh – Review – Part 2
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