Lehmann demands Australia reaction against Bangladesh

Omnisports

March 20, 2016 2:36 AM

Australia face Bangladesh at the World Twenty20 on Monday looking to get their first victory after capitulating against New Zealand.

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Darren Lehmann has demanded a response from Australia's batsmen as they look to put their opening World Twenty20 defeat to New Zealand behind them against Bangladesh.

Having bowled well in Dharamsala, Australia failed to chase down 143 against the Black Caps as they were dismissed for 134, with Steve Smith and David Warner both struggling for runs.

Lehmann was not impressed with the batting performance in that defeat and expects improvements as they look to keep their semi-final hopes alive against Bangladesh in Bangalore.

"Smith, Warner, [Glenn] Maxwell, [Mitchell] Marsh, the whole lot of them, they need to be smarter," said Lehmann. ??"They know that. They don't mean to play the shots they play. At the end of the day we've just got to be better."

Bangladesh are also looking for their first win of the tournament after a 55-run defeat to Pakistan, Mashrafe Mortaza's team having come through the qualification stage top of Group A.

CAN AUSTRALIA OVERCOME THEIR SPIN PROBLEMS?

Australia struggled against the spin of Mitchell Santner in their opener and, with a plethora of slow bowlers available to Mortaza, Lehmann hopes his side have learnt their lessons.

"The wicket was slow and spun and that's what we're going to get," Lehmann said. ??"But we've got to be better at finishing those sort of scenarios.

"As long as they learn and understand the pressures of World Cup cricket and know that in knock-out cricket ??? basically, you lose you're out."

BANGLADESH FUME AT BOWLING SUSPENSIONS

The suspensions of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny have left Mortaza unhappy at the treatment handed out to his side, and as a result they will have to call Mustafizur Rahman into action despite his side strain.

Saqlain Sajib and Shuvagata Hom have been called into the squad, but they are only due to arrive on Sunday so will need a quick turnaround to be ready.

PITCH OFFERS AUSTRALIA ENCOURAGEMENT

With spin concerns at the forefront of his mind Australia captain Smith was pleased with the state of the Bangalore wicket.

After inspecting the pitch he said: "Looking at how dry it is and that kind of thing, I don't think this will take as much turn as the last couple that we have seen. It looks a pretty good wicket."

KEY OPTA STATS

-These sides have met three times previously with all three meetings coming in the World Twenty20 and Australia winning all three encounters. -Australia have lost their last four T20I matches when batting first, they have never lost five consecutive games when opening the batting. -Tamim Iqbal is the top run scorer in this edition of the World Twenty20 so far, scoring 257 runs from four innings, at an average of 128.5 at S/R of 153.9.

Omnisports

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