David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Mitch Marsh calls correctly and Australia will bowl first at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
In the 18 T20Is that have been played at the venue, 11 have been won by the team batting first. Not sure that narrow gap points to being the deciding factor today, but one that can’t hurt for Bangladesh as they look to beat Australia for the first time ever in an ICC event.
“It looks a decent wicket, I don’t think it will change much over the 40 overs,” Marsh said after winning the toss.
“It’s nice to get somewhat used to the conditions, we’ve played one game here. As tournament play gets deeper and deeper and the pressure rises, it’s all about being true to yourself.”
Najmul Hossain Shanto says that Bangladesh would have bowled first as well, but now it’s over to their batting line-up to set a competitive total.
“As a batting group we need to do something special in the Super Eight,” Najmul Hossain Shanto said. “It looks like a good wicket.
The covers are off and we’re waiting for Mitch Marsh and Najmul Hossain Shanto to make their way to the middle for the toss and team news.
While you’re waiting, catch up on where we sit in Group 1 after all teams started the Super Eight stage with a clean slate with the match highlights from Afghanistan v India earlier today:
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Rain has started to fall moments before the captains were due to walk out at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium for the toss.
Ricky Ponting is braving the elements without an umbrella in the middle of the park, and the Australia side are out there continuing their warm up, so hopefully we won’t be too far away.
Form guide
While Australia navigated the group stage without loss, Bangladesh also made a bright start with a tense two-wicket victory over bitter rivals Sri Lanka, a narrow defeat by South Africa, then convincing wins against Netherlands and Nepal.
It has been a rapid – and somewhat surprising - turnaround since Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side suffered a 2-1 T20 series defeat by the USA in Houston last month. Their skipper is due some runs though, after only scoring 26 across four knocks at this tournament.
If Najmul misses out again, it isn’t clear which Bangladesh batter might step up with none compiling 100 runs at the tournament yet. Towhid Hridoy is the closest with 95 which has also come at their batters’ leading strike rate of 125.
On the other hand, Marcus Stoinis (156), Travis Head (148) and David Warner (116) have all reached a combined triple figures across four group stage matches, and Australia’s explosive top-order looms as the key weapon again today even as their middle-order has underperformed so far.
Australia have won all five of their T20 World Cup clashes with Bangladesh, including one on their way to the 2021 crown. The Asian nation at least took out a T20 bilateral series in Mirpur 4-1 in the months before Australia saluted in Dubai, but the stakes are much higher here.
Geoff Lemon likes what he has seen from Australia, and has gone the relatively early crow that they are once again the team to beat:
Hello and welcome to the OBO live coverage of Australia and Bangladesh kicking off their Super Eight campaigns at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh has hardly held back on his view that, as far as he’s concerned, the tournament essentially starts now.
Even with that in mind, Australia have fine-tuned as well as could be hoped for through the group stage with comfortable victories over Oman and England, a thumping win over Namibia, then admittedly a scare in a relatively dead rubber against Scotland.
Perhaps Australia were wrestling with the idea of accepting defeat against the Scots to knock out their mutual foes England even more than they were letting on! Australia’s arch-rivals showed glimpses of returning to their best in an eight-wicket victory over West Indies yesterday.
But it is India’s triumph over Afghanistan earlier today that is more relevant. The top-two finishers in the Super Eight group containing Australia, Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan will progress to the semi-finals, as Marsh’s side look to complete the set of ICC trophies in Tests, ODIs, and T20s.
Play starts at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua at 8:30pm - which is 10:30am AEST and 1:30am BST.
The toss and team news is coming shortly - in the meantime, email your thoughts or get in touch on X @martinpegan throughout the day/night.