- Adam Zampa is Australia’s top wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup
- He took 5-19 against Bangladesh in 2021
- Recommended Bets: Adam Zampa to be top wicket-taker for Australia

Australia will look to maintain their perfect record at the 2024 T20 World Cup when they take on Bangladesh at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday morning.

Mitchell Marsh’s men won all four of their Group B games and they carry plenty of momentum into the Super 8s stage.

The Tigers, meanwhile, began their campaign with a two-wicket win over Sri Lanka and successfully defended scores against Netherlands and Nepal before just falling short (by four runs) against South Africa.

Team news

Australia have no major injury concerns and are likely to go in with their full-strength playing XI.

Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood should return to the attack after being rested against Scotland, replacing Nathan Ellis and Ashton Agar.

Last time in Antigua, the wicket offered the pace duo a bit more carry than at either Barbados or Trinidad.

Marsh is edging closer to bowling again and while Marcus Stoinis admitted he did not bowl against Scotland because he was feeling sore, the all-rounder is fine to play against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Shanto has admitted to concerns about his side's batting after a hit-and-miss group stage.

But the Tigers have kept a settled line-up throughout their four matches so far, making just one change when Jaker Ali replaced Soumya Sarkar in the late middle order after the opening win over Sri Lanka. 

The bowlers have been firing, however, with pacemen Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman all fit to play while all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and leggie Rishad Hossain will offer the spin options.

The stats

Sakib has taken seven wickets in the powerplay phase - tied with Afghanistan's Fazal Farooqi for the most in the first six overs of the innings.

Stoinis (10) and Travis Head (9) are among the top five six-hitters at the tournament with Tawhid Hridoy (6) hitting the most maximums from Bangladesh's ranks.

Matthew Wade (1153) is sitting in 12th place for most runs by a wicketkeeper in men's T20s and needs another 77 to reach the top 10.

Mustafizur Rahman bowled the joint-most dot balls (67) during the group stage, tied with New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson.

When Australia routed Namibia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in the group stage their batters needed only 5.4 overs to get the runs.

Australia's only defeat in their past 10 T20 matches was the dead-rubber against West Indies in Perth in February.

Prediction

Australia have a chequered record against the Tigers, who have won four of the last six meetings between the nations in this format.

But Marsh’s side have a much stronger batting line-up than Bangladesh with the in-form Travis Head likely to do more damage after his sparkling 68 against Scotland. 

Head has been a constant source of powerplay runs since being moved up to open the batting with David Warner and has scored more than 27.5 runs in nine of his last 11 innings.

Adam Zampa has also impressed with his control and ability to take wickets in the middle overs.

Among slow bowlers, only Akeal Hosein has taken as many wickets at this tournament as the leg-spinner and he enjoyed great success against Bangladesh in the 2021 T20 World Cup, claiming 5-19 in an eight-wicket win. 

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