Pat Cummins celebrates his hat-trick against Bangladesh.Credit:Getty Images
“I didn’t know I was on a hat-trick,” Cummins said. “I did the previous over,I saw it come up on the screen,and then by the time my next over came around I totally forgot about it. So Stoinis ran in from the deep cheering and I was like,Oh yeah,forgot about that’.”
That moment provided a microcosm of exactly how well drilled Australia have become at what they hope will be just past the midpoint of this Cup campaign. Five games thus far have reaped five wins,and another four would mean lifting the trophy in Barbados in eight days’ time.
Australia,India and England,cricket’s financial “big three”,have each flexed their on-field muscle to set the pace in the Super Eights phase of a tournament geared largely towards their progress. After England crushed West Indies and India did likewise to Afghanistan,it wasAustralia’s turn in Antigua to do a job on Bangladesh.
After Cummins’ hat-trick,David Warner,Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell dominated a rain-reduced chase for a vast win,officially by 28 runs on DLS calculations. The victory and its margin should mean the Australians only need to win one of their two remaining games against Afghanistan (Sunday) and India (Monday night) to qualify for the semi-finals.
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Despite a pair of coaches well versed in the ways of Mitchell Marsh’s team in former NSW mentors Chandika Hathurasinghe and Andre Adams,Bangladesh still looked too timid at key moments to present a genuine challenge for Australia.
Though Mitchell Starc,Adam Zampa and Cummins all delivered exemplary spells after Marsh chose to bowl first,the Bangladesh innings was characterised by a lack of aggressive intent,as far too many dot balls accrued in a format where bowlers must be put under pressure.