Spinner Nasum Ahmed
claimed four wickets as Bangladesh defended 131 to beat Australia for the first
time in Twenty20 internationals on Tuesday in Dhaka.
Nasum, a left-arm spinner, returned career-best figures of
4-19 to help dimiss the visitors for 108 as Bangladesh took a 1-0 lead in the
five-match series.
Mustafizur Rahman and fellow left-arm quick Shoriful Islam
took two wickets each to play key roles in their team’s maiden T20 win over
Australia in five attempts.
This is the first bilateral series between the two sides as
Australia won their four matches against Bangladesh in T20 World Cups.
“We had a team talk during the halfway stage and said
that we were 10 runs short, so we have to field well and put more effort,”
skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said after the win.
“That’s what you need while defending low totals and
have attacking mindset. They are a very good side and we need to tick the boxes
we failed today in the coming games.”
Mitchell Marsh made a valiant 45 but the away batting
faltered from the start with Alex Carey bowled first ball to spinner Mahedi
Hasan.
Marsh tried to get the chase on track with few partnerships
including a 38-run fourth-wicket stand with skipper Matthew Wade, who made 13.
Mitchell Starc was the only other Australian batsmen to
manage double figures before he was bowled for 14 on the last ball of the
match.
Earlier pace bowler Josh Hazlewood returned figures of 3-24
in Bangladesh’s 131-7 after Australia elected to bowl first. Starc took two
wickets.
Shakib Al Hasan, who survived two dropped chances on 18 and
23, top-scored with 36 off 33 balls before being bowled by Hazlewood in the
17th over.
Opener Mohammad Naim (30), Mahmudullah (20) and Afif Hossain
(23 not out) also contributed with the bat.
“I thought the bowlers did a terrific job to restrict
them to 130,” said Wade.
“But having lost 3 for 10, me and Marsh tried to
resurrect the innings but unfortunately we couldn’t do that. We have to find
ways to score runs on such pitches.”
The second T20 is on Wednesday at the same venue.
