Australia's legspinner, Adam Zampa, claimed three for 23 - the fourth-best bowling figures by an Australia spinner in T20Is - to help his side narrowly beat Bangladesh by three wickets in their second match of the World T20 played in Bangalore on Monday.
A depleted Bangladesh took the field against Australia after opener Tamim Iqbal was ruled out due to illness and Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny were suspended due to queries over their bowling actions.
Opener, Soumya Sarkar, continued his horror run in the tournament, with the bat, and fell in the second over for just one. His T20 average of 16 is the second-lowest for a batsman who has opened in 15 or more innings. Shane Watson accounted for Sarkar and an inform Sabbir Rahman in the first six overs.
Mohammad Mithun and Shakib Al Hasan then dropped anchor and looked to rebuild the Bangladesh innings. The duo added 37 runs for the third wicket in four overs and scored at over eight runs an over. It was then, that Zampa was introduced into the attack.
The legspinner bowled an excellent spell through the middle of the innings, just as Bangladesh seemed capable of building on a hesitant start. Zampa first accounted for Mithun, who nailed a long hop - in the tenth over - to Shane Watson at midwicket for 23. In the next over, he dismissed Shuvagata Hom lbw, with a flipper, for 13.
Bangladesh now looked to Al Hasan to bail them out of trouble again, but in the 16th over, Zampa induced a top-edge from Al Hasan, who made room to cut a wide delivery, but holed out to short third man, for a 25-ball 33. Bangladesh stood at 105 at that stage.
Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim then switched gears to add a 55-run stand for the fifth wicket to help their side post a respectable 156 in their innings
Australia's top order, who struggled in the first-match loss to New Zealand, came good in Bangalore. Opener, Usman Khawaja, top scored with a 45-ball 58. Glen Maxwell smashed a quick fire 15-ball 26 and Watson scored 21 from 15 balls to help their side outdo their opponents with nine balls to spare.
"Nice to make a bit of a difference. After a disappointing loss to New Zealand, nice to get the the tournament rolling," Zampa, the Star of the match, said. "Playing in the BBL, 80,000 people, I'm used to it. I've played three or four games here now, it's a learning curve. Just getting used to the length and the pace and to different players and their areas. We've had a bit of travel, off to Mohali now and we'll be there for a week, that'll be nice."