Thursday’s action in the Cricket World Cup comes from Trent Bridge, Nottingham where Australia clash with Bangladesh

Australia:

Australia’s most recent match came against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Saturday and they came out on top by 89 runs. Skipper Aaron Finch top scored with 153, Steve Smith made 73 and Maxwell was 46 not out as Australia posted a bat first total of 337/7. That looked a big enough total to defend but Sri Lanka made a brisk start to the chase, putting on 115 for the first wicket in 15.3 overs before the Australian bowling unit clicked into gear. Mitchell Starc took 4 wickets, Kane Richardson claimed 3 and Pat Cummins 2 as Sri Lanka’s innings fell away, eventually closing on 247 all out after 45.5 overs.

Australia now have 4 wins and 1 defeat to show for their first 5 matches and another win here would put them in touching distance of claiming a semi final place. Earlier results saw Australia beat Afghanistan by 7 wickets and West Indies by 14 runs. Their only loss so far came against India (36 runs) but they bounced back immediately to beat Pakistan by 41 runs.

Australia are now trading at around 3/1 to win outright and 12/10 to reach the final.

Aaron Finch is leading run scorer for Australia with 343 runs, David Warner and has made 281 and Steve Smith has 243. With the ball Starc has taken 13 wickets and Cummins has 11.

This was how Australia lined up against Sri Lanka last time out.

David Warner, Aaron Finch (capt), Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff

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Bangladesh:

Bangladesh were in action against West Indies in Taunton on Monday and they impressed in chalking up a crucial victory by a 7 wicket margin. West Indies batted first and they posted 321/8 with Mustafizur Rahman and Saifuddin both taking 3 wickets and Shakib Al Hasan claimed 2.

That looked a stiff chase but Bangladesh came out firing. Tamim Iqbal made 48 at the top of the order and Shakib Al Hasan continued his excellent form top scoring with an unbeaten 124. Liton Das was with Shakib at the end on 94 not out and Bangladesh got home in just 41.3 overs.

Bangladesh now have 2 wins, 2 defeats and 1 no result from their 5 outings. Earlier results comprise of a 21 run victory over South Africa and a 2 wicket defeat to New Zealand. They lost to England by 104 runs and their scheduled clash with Sri Lanka was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Bangladesh can currently be backed at 80/1 to win the tournament and 8/1 to reach the semi finals.

Shakib Al Hasan is the top run scorer for Bangladesh with 384, Mushfiqur Rahim has made 142 and Tamim Iqbal has 107. Mohammad Saifuddin is leading wicket taker with 9, Mustafizur Rahman has 7 and Mehidy Hasan has 5.

This was how Bangladesh lined up against West Indies on Monday

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mustafizur Rahman

Head to Head

The teams have met 20 times with Australia winning 18, Bangladesh have won 1 with no result.

Recent meetings are few and far between with the ICC Champions Trophy clash in 2017 washed out and no result was possible when the teams met in a pool stage match in World Cup 2015. The only Bangladesh victory over Australia came back in 2005

The Betting, Click here for all markets

Australia 1/6

Bangladesh 9/2

Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.

Verdict:

There was plenty to like about the way Bangladesh went about the run chase against West Indies but this is a bigger test with Australia going well with bat and ball. How Bangladesh play Starc and Cummins will be key but it’s a bowler who provides the betting interest.

Mustafizur Rahman put in his best shift with the ball against West Indies and looks a good favourite in the top Bangladesh bowler market.

In the Player Performance market (1 point per run, 10 per catch, 20 per wicket) we stick with Maxwell who came through for us against Sri Lanka at the weekend.

Suggested Bets:

Top Bangladesh Bowler Mustafizur Rahman at 11/4

Player Performance Maxwell Over 43.5 at 9/10

Click here for all CWC markets.

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