Big picture: Australia look to fine-tune against Bangladesh ahead of semi-final
Even though Australia have won six consecutive matches, after such a rocky start, their form has been patchy at times. They’ve been relying on individual brilliance – none more so than Maxwell’s tour de force – rather than a collective.
Australia still face selection issues in a bid to find the right balance. They have several players struggling for consistency as Australia look to produce a more complete performance against an opponent out of semi-final contention.
But Bangladesh are in a fight to be among the top eight teams to qualify for the Champions Trophy. An upset will go a long way towards this and notching consecutive victories will also ensure a strong finish for Bangladesh, whose tournament hopes nosedived after beating Afghanistan in their opener.
More coaching staff changes are likely, but Bangladesh will be hoping the off-field turmoil does not affect them in their bid to finish a disappointing World Cup campaign on a bright note.
Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WLLLL
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Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis/Marnus Labuschagne, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das, 2 Tanzid Hasan/Anamul Haque, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 7 Nasum Ahmed/Mahedi Hasan, 8 Towhid Hridoy, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam
The Maharashtra Cricket Association surface has been batting-friendly with South Africa and England posting scores over 330 after batting first in the last two matches at the ground. But seamers have also done well on a pitch offering bounce and carry.
Warm and sunny conditions are expected on Saturday with a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius forecast.
“It will be based on the surface. If we think that we have a surface that is challenging in a certain area then we can shift in one direction. The more bowling options that we have we feel we can cover in terms of the opposition batting.”
Coach Andrew McDonald on Australia’s selection decisions.