Alarm bells will be sounding in the Australian camp following a crushing loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka, where the tourists were torn apart by a tall speedster exceeding 150km/h.
During previous tours of the subcontinent — including last week’s 2-1 ODI series loss to Pakistan — the Australians have been thwarted by spinners on dry decks, with unfamiliar conditions blamed for batting collapses.
However, that wasn’t the case during Tuesday’s ODI opener.
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Chasing a 285-run target for victory, the undermanned Australians stumbled towards 9-156 in the 37th over, with seven of the wickets falling to fast bowlers on a bouncy, seam-friendly pitch. It was Australia’s first ODI loss to Bangladesh since 2005.
In conditions the tourists should be more accustomed to — and which will be replicated during next year’s World Cup in South Africa — the Australians looked all at sea.
“Different conditions to what we’ve seen here (during past tours), and where we have been the last couple of weeks over in Pakistan,” Australian batter Alex Carey told reporters during the post-match press conference.
“But we’re international cricketers and that’s our job, to now go into the next game and take our learnings and hopefully respond from tonight’s efforts.”
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Inglis walks after FIERY dismissal! | 00:46
The chief destroyer was Nahid Rana, who at one stage clocked 151km/h.
After captain Josh Inglis and Carey were beaten for pace, both feathering through to the wicketkeeper, Rana knocked over Australian debutant Liam Scott with a rising bumper that caught the all-rounder by surprise, spooning towards backward point.
The 23-year-old finished with figures of 4-41 from 10 overs.
Traditionally, Australia has produced an assortment of tall fast bowlers to terrorise their opponents, but the tables have turned.
And he was fired up, giving rival skipper Inglis a send-off following his dismissal in the 11th over, with his teammates needing to restrain him.
“Clearly he was a standout tonight with a bit of extra bounce,” Carey said of Rana.
“He bowled really well. I think we all knew the pace, but I guess until you face it first-hand, he’s a really tall athlete and gets a bit of bounce as well.
“Hopefully we can keep him out of the series from now on.”
He added: “We’ve watched his highlights, the vision of him … we just weren’t able to keep him out of the game.”
Pressed on whether he should be considered for future editions of the Big Bash League, Carey replied with a smile: “He can come to the Adelaide Strikers if he wants.”
Australia is missing several high-profile players during this series against Bangladesh, and their absence was sorely felt at Shere Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
Opener Travis Head skipped the tour due to personal reasons, while captain Mitchell Marsh is nursing an ankle injury he sustained during the recent Indian Premier League. For a third consecutive match, Australia’s substitute openers couldn’t survive the first over of the innings, with Matt Short castled by quick Taskin Ahmed for a golden duck.
Fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were also unavailable for the white-ball tour, with Tasmanian seamer Nathan Ellis leading the pace attack in their absence. The inexperienced duo of Xavier Bartlett and Scott, who struggled to reach 140km/h, leaked 6.61 runs per over during the series opener, failing to unearth a breakthrough until the death overs.
Elsewhere, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell each retired from ODIs last year, leaving a massive void in the middle order.
The Australians were guilty of multiple errors in the field, with all-rounder Cooper Connolly and Marnus Labuschagne among those who put down regulation chances.
“Our fielding was a bit sloppy,” Carey confessed.
“Not a great way to start the series.
“We created a number of chances and we weren’t able to hang on to them.
“It wasn’t our best efforts in the field and hopefully we can change that pretty quickly.”
“Would you believe it!” Connolly spills! | 00:34
But the most glaring issue for the Australians remains No. 3 Labuschagne, who suffered another failure with the bat on Tuesday.
The Queenslander was trapped on the pads after missing a full in-swinger from paceman Mustafizur Rahman during the second over of the run chase, dismissed for 1 following a review. It was his 70th consecutive international innings without a century.
Labuschagne has averaged 11.64 with the bat across his 17 most recent ODIs, with no fifties; when Head and Marsh return from injury, his spot in Australia’s 50-over starting XI will come under serious jeopardy.
Bangladesh’s ODI drubbing serves as a warning for Australia’s Test side ahead of August’s two-match series in the Top End; Bangladesh’s fast bowlers are capable of wreaking havoc with the new ball if the surfaces in Darwin and Mackay provide bounce and seam.
The Tigers are no longer pushovers. Bangladesh cricket is on the rise.
The second ODI between Bangladesh and Australia gets underway at the same venue on Thursday at 3pm AEST.
