T20 World Cup: It's not all doom and gloom for Australia, says Brett Lee

AUS vs BAN LIVE: Australia aims to improve batting- Aussies will be keen to improve their batting after a drubbing against England in the previous match. Aaron Finch & Co will aim for a fresh start in the do or die battle. The batting department will be key as Australia will eye to improve their net run rate (NRR) in the race to the semifinals. They are facing tough competition with South Africa for second place in the Group of Death. Meanwhile, the bowling department will look to continue their impressive performance. Follow Australia vs Bangladesh live on insidesport.in

AUS vs BAN LIVE: Australia aims to improve batting against Bangladesh in do or die match- Follow LIVE updates

On the other hand, Mahmadullah & Co will be looking for a consolation victory in their last group stage match.

Bangladesh will have to play out of their skins against Australia for a consolation. Their batting has let them down through out the tournament and they can only go up from the 84 all out against South Africa.

The absence of injured all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has also disturbed the balance of the side. Against South Africa, only opener Liton Das and down the order Mahedi Hasan put up a semblance of fight with the bat. Having called the batting effort against South Africa poor, skipper Mahmudullah would be hoping to end the campaign on a high.

They are already without the services of Shakib Al Hasan but recently lost the T20I series to Bangladesh. They were thrashed 1-4 in the recently concluded T20I series. However, Aussies are back with the services with senior cricketers like David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, among others. They are likely to strengthen the Aussies over Bangladesh.

**AUS vs BAN Head-to-Head (Australia leads 5-4)**
Team 1	Team 2	Winner	Margin	Ground	Match Date
Australia	Bangladesh	Australia	9 wickets	Cape Town	Sep 16, 2007
Australia	Bangladesh	Australia	27 runs	Bridgetown	May 5, 2010
Bangladesh	Australia	Australia	7 wickets	Dhaka	Apr 1, 2014
Australia	Bangladesh	Australia	3 wickets	Bengaluru	Mar 21, 2016
Bangladesh	Australia	Bangladesh	23 runs	Dhaka	Aug 3, 2021
Bangladesh	Australia	Bangladesh	5 wickets	Dhaka	Aug 4, 2021
Bangladesh	Australia	Bangladesh	10 runs	Dhaka	Aug 6, 2021
Bangladesh	Australia	Australia	3 wickets	Dhaka	Aug 7, 2021
Bangladesh	Australia	Bangladesh	60 runs	Dhaka	Aug 9, 2021

T20 World Cup Points Table: Pakistan first team to book semifinals berth, South Africa still in semis race- Follow LIVE Updates

Former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee is confident Aaron Finch and Co. can bounce back from their crushing group-stage defeat at the hands of England provided their top-order fires in the upcoming matches of the T20 World Cup.

England put up a thoroughly professional display against Australia last week, bundling out the Men from Down Under for 125 before overhauling the target in 11.4 overs to record a dominating eight-wicket win.

“England were outstanding against Australia. The 50-over World champions were just too good in the end, it’s as simple as that,” Lee wrote in his column for the ICC’s official website.

“Parts of the game were outstanding for Australia but in other parts they probably let themselves down.”

Australia have four points from three outings and are under the pump to win their remaining fixtures as South Africa are ahead of them with six points from four games and also have a better net run rate.

“Now it’s not all doom and gloom for Australia – I try and look at things from a positive point of view. There are a lot of people saying, ‘he shouldn’t be in the team’, ‘he shouldn’t be batting there’ and so on.

Also Read: T20 World Cup Points Table: England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs to put one foot in semifinals, India on brink of exit- Follow LIVE Updates

“But they say in Hindi, ‘aaram se, aaram se’, and that means to relax and go about things patiently. I think that’s a really good expression that the team can use just to relax. Everything will be okay.

“I know that there could be changes, they might look to shuffle the order, they might look to some different bowling options but sometimes you just get outplayed and England outplayed Australia.”

Lee feels it is imperative that the Australian top-order, comprising the likes of David Warner, skipper Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, fires upfront, while wicketkeeper Matthew Wade provides a solid finish.

“The top order has to fire, they have to get runs from guys like Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, who has been in good form the first two games but missed out with a duck against England and that’s part of the game.

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“Matthew Wade has been getting a few runs, getting some starts but Australia need a big 40 or 50 from him to finish so there are areas where Australia can take some positives out.”

Lee suggested that the openers could try out a slightly different strategy than going all out at the beginning of the innings.

“I know the Aussies want to get off to a flyer, I heard Warner say it, I heard it from Aaron Finch and they are two brilliant players, two guys I’d pick in my side every single day of the week.

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“Maybe it’s about taking the foot off the accelerator a fraction at the top. I know that some teams go really hard in the first six but other teams don’t take as many risks so perhaps Australia can do that but I’ll still back Warner every day of the week to go down town first ball if he has to.”

T20 World Cup- Aus vs Ban: Talking about the Australian bowling unit he said “They probably didn’t get the right line or length against England and in this format there are days where the batsmen miss out and the bowlers defend.

“But when collectively you don’t have your best game, you can see what happens.”

Despite the ordinary performance against England, the 44-year-old backed Australia to lift their maiden T20 World Cup title.

Ahead of the tournament, Lee had picked India as the team to beat but the former pacer feels England and Pakistan are top contenders.

Australia Probable XI

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Australia squad

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson, Kane Richardson, Josh Inglis

Sri Lanka Probable XI

Kusal Perera (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Lahiru Kumara

Sri Lanka squad