Australia will be looking to move to the top of the World Cup table this Thursday night as they face off against Bangladesh in their sixth round robin clash. Trent Bridge will play host to the game for it’s fourth and final game of this World Cup.
We have a full preview and betting tips for the game starting from 7.30pm (AEST) below.
Australia vs Bangladesh Betting Tips
Australia
The Aussies were dominant in their last game, capturing a 87 run win over Sri Lanka to move to 4-1 through their five round robin games. They currently sit tied with England on 8 points in, narrowly behind on net run rate. They can all but lock up a spot in the semi-finals with a win over Bangladesh on Thursday night, which will pit them a full five points clear of Bangladesh themselves, who sit in fifth place.
Batting first, the Australian’s piled on a massive score of 334 against Sri Lanka as skipper Aaron Finch plundered his first hundred of the tournament, a brilliant 153 off just 132 balls which included 15 fours and 5 sixes. Steve Smith also continued his strong run of form with yet another score in 70s. The former Aussie skipper has now made between 69 and 73 in three of the five games.
The Sri Lankans looked competitive with the bat to begin their innings as they piled on a 115 run opening partnership in just over 15 overs. However, Mitch Starc tore through the batting line-up in his second spell and finished with figures of 4/55 off his 10 overs to lead the Australiand to victory. Glenn Maxwell bowled superbly through the middle overs as the No.1 spinner in the side, but it’s likely that we’ll see a frontline spinner come back into the side for the game at Trent Bridge.
The form of Usman Khawaja remains a massive issue for the Australians. The selectors have shown faith in him throughout the first five games of the tournament and he does have somewhat of an excuse after being constantly shuffled around the order. Probably won’t get another chance if he fails against Bangladesh but the selectors should give him every opportunity to succeed here against a lighter opponent. Either Khawaja or Shaun Marsh will be on the chopping block when Australia inevitably decides to revert to a bowling all-rounder at No.6.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh have been the surprise packet of the World Cup so far. They have a 2-2-1 record through five games and can put some real pressure on the top four with a win over Australia. They have some real winnable games to come including matchups against Afghanistan and Pakistan and are probably that could upset the top four of New Zealand, Australia, England and India.
The world’s premier all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan has been on another level in the tournament so far. Through four innings, he has scores of 75, 64, 121 and 124* for a total of 384 runs at an average of 128.00. He is the leading runscorer in the tournament with one less inning than most of his competitors and shows no sign of slowing down.
The bowling has been the main concern for Bangladesh. They have allowed 300+ runs in three of their four games so far, including a monster 386 to England in the loss last two weeks ago. Mohammad Saifuddin leads the way with the ball for Bangladesh with 9 wickets through four games.
Prediction
Tough to find any value in this match until after the toss. Mitch Starc has been in great form over the past few games and looks a good bet to top the Australian wicket taker market. In his only career ODI game against Bangladesh, the left arm paceman had figures of 4/29 off just 8.3 overs which included clean bowling number eight, nine and ten in the Bangladesh batting line-up.
Mitch Starc top AUS wickets
$3.50
If Australia bat first, and their run line is around the 300 mark, which we expect it to be, the overs should be a good play. Nathan Coulter-Nile could come back into the side for the Aussies, lengthening their batting line-up and with the form of Finch, Smith and Maxwell, a score of 300+ looks likely.
Australia should win here but absolutely no value in them at just $1.14. Make sure to follow our Twitter as we’ll be giving out more precise betting tips at 7pm sharp just after the toss!
