Brett Lee celebrates his hat-trick.
Australia v Bangladesh
 E-mail Article  Print-Friendly
 Subscribe to RSS Feed
 Post to del.icio.us
Click here to bet on the World Twenty20!
Click here for full scorecard
Click here for updated standings
Paceman Brett Lee recorded the first World Twenty20 hat-trick as Australia coasted to a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their first match of the Super Eights.
The fast bowler had Shakib Al Hasan caught behind for 16 and then bowled Mashrafe Mortaza and pinned Alok Kapali leg before in successive balls.
That left Bangladesh 108 for six - Tamim Iqbal (32) and Aftab Ahmed (31) having made the best scores earlier on - and they eventually closed on 123 for eight.
Lee finished with three for 27 and Nathan Bracken two for 14.
Despite a shock defeat to Zimbabwe in the group stage such a total was hardly likely to trouble Australia, the reigning 50-over world champions, and so it proved.
Adam Gilchrist was run out in the 12th over for 43, having hit four sixes and one four in just 28 balls, but Matthew Hayden saw them to victory in the 14th over with an unbeaten 73.
The big left-hander smashed three sixes and nine fours in 48 balls and captain Ricky Ponting's pull through midwicket for two brought up the win with 6.1 overs remaining.
Man of the match Lee praised all the bowlers for the performance - and reported the shock defeat to Zimbabwe had given the whole side a wake-up call.
"That loss to Zimbabwe gave us a kick in the pants and has definitely improved our performance," he said.
"I tried to get the ball going through today, but it was great effort by all the bowlers.
"I've got a couple of hat-tricks now, which is nice.
"This is one of those games where you get it into the right spot and it can go for six or it can get you a wicket - but it is nice to have it in the trophy cabinet."
Ponting, despite the resounding victory, stressed there are still areas to work on.
"I think we had a few too many extras with the bowling, so we can tighten that up a bit. But the guys at the top of the order are looking good," said the Australia captain, referring to 11 wides and five no-balls.
"The way we have played the last two games [they also beat England by eight wickets], I hope we can keep building on that. It will give us a bit of a gauge of how we are going."
Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful admitted his team struggled against a vastly more experienced attack.
"Australia bowled well. We didn't play well. Our two openers did a very good job, but we needed more of a score," he said.
Click here to send us your sporting feedback
|
