Australia send Bangladesh to bat in 1st T20I

Australia have won the toss and sent Bangladesh to bat in the first game of five-match Twenty20 Internatinal (T20I) series in Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday.

Both teams are playing without many key players in thier first bilateral T20 series.

Their previous four meetings were all won by Australia at T20 World Cups, reports news agency AFP.

Bangladesh will play without Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim while Australia are without Aaron Finch, David Warner and Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell.

"We would have liked to bowl but we'll need to put a total on the board and defend," said captain Mahmudullah Riyad. "We are missing a couple of key players, but it will give an opportunity to others."

"Some guys will get opportunities in the middle order, it's a chance to put their hand up for the T20 World Cup," said Australia skipper Matthew Wade, referring to the event to be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in October-November.

Despite various odds, the Tigers are full of confidence as they have won the T20I series 2-1 in Zimbabwe recently while the Aussies will look for reviving their glory after conceding a 4-1 series defeat recently by West Indies.

Team

Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Sheikh, Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mohammad Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Islam, Nasum Ahmed

Australia: Josh Philippe, Alex Carey, Mitch Marsh, Moises Henriques, Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade (c) (wk), Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Umpires: MR Mukul, SIS Saikat

TV umpire: GAA Sohel

Match referee: NR Rahul