Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe wants his team to make the most of their strengths in batting and bowling when they take on Australia in their Super Eights clash on Thursday night.

The South Asian side will face the 50-over World Cup winners at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua to open their Super Eights campaign.

“The pitches have been very challenging and very hard to read so our plan is to have a good start whether we bat or bowl,” Hathurusinghe said in his pre-match comments on Wednesday.

“We are very happy to be here [in Super Eights] and then anything from here is a bonus for us so, we will play with a lot of freedom.”

The Sri Lankan coach said his team will look to use the conditions to the best of their advantage.

“It all depends on the conditions and a little bit on opposition as well. We will take their limitations into account and play to our strengths.”

Australia’s captain Mitchell Marsh was coy about the composition of his side but revealed he will be available to bowl in the match if the team requires him to.

The all-rounder has not bowled in the tournament yet.

“It’s really important in this format to have [bowling] options and we are blessed with plenty of those,” Marsh told reporters on Wednesday.

Marsh said felt lucky to lead a side loaded with experience with the bat and ball and will look to use it against a tricky opposition.

Australia’s fielding was poor in their last group game against Scotland but Marsh said the team has put the “off night” past them.

“This group loves to stand up in big moments so I have got a lot of trust in the group.”

Pitch condition and toss

The Antigua venue has produced some of the highest-scoring matches in the tournament so far and any width from bowlers has been dispatched to the boundary.

The toss has not played a significant role in the outcome of the five matches played at the venue and captains winning the toss have gone with a mix of bat first and field first options.

Weather forecast

The weather will remain overcast in the evening, with some passing showers forecast during the match hours.

Head-to-head

Australia hold a slight edge over Bangladesh in their 10 T20 meetings. The 2021 champions have won six matches, while the men in green have won four.

Their last meeting came in the T20 World Cup 2021 and Australia thrashed Bangladesh by eight wickets.

Form guide

Australia will be buoyed by their unbeaten run in the group games and their ability to recover from tricky situations to win matches.

Bangladesh seemed to have found form after a win and a loss in their first two matches, especially with the bat.

Australia: W W W W W
Bangladesh: W W L W W

Australia team news

Australia are expected to field the same side that was handed a heavy loss by West Indies, but also brought them four wins.

Squad: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, and Nathan Ellis.

Bangladesh team news

Bangladesh are unlikely to ring any changes to their side but their coach said they will assess the pitch and the opposition before deciding on the playing XI.

Squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.