David Warner pummeled his sixteenth ODI hundred to enable Australia to enlist a 48-run triumph over Bangladesh who battled valiantly yet fell short, in a rain-interrupted ICC Cricket World Cup clash on Thursday.
The win has placed Australia in a comfortable position and the defending champions look all set to qualify for the semis.
Australia posted a mammoth 381/5 in 50 overs after choosing to bat first, their second highest score in World Cup history.
Warner, who crushed 166 off 147 balls, equalled Virat Kohli as he turned out to be just the second batsman to complete 16 ODI hundreds in 110 innings. This is the Aussie southpaw’s sixth 150 plus score and his second century of the ongoing World Cup.
Pursuing the massive total, Bangladesh gave a splendid record of themselves as Mushfiqur Rahim stayed unbeaten on 102 off 97 balls, his brilliant innings bound with nine fours and a six while Mahmadullah and Tamim Iqbal gave him good support from the other end.
Bangladesh finished with 333/8 in 50 overs.
Mushfiqur and Mahmadullah shared a 127-run stand for the fifth wicket after Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim held hands for a 79-run second wicket partnership. However, eventually it turned out to be a total too tall for the men in green to chase it down.
Australia presently have eight points from five outings and are at the third spot while Bangladesh stay fifth with five points in same number of matches. The day totally belonged to Warner’s phenomenal display of batting heroics.
Other than Warner, captain Aaron Finch proceeded with his great form with the bat to score 53 off 51 balls while Usman Khawaja additionally contributed with a splendid 89 off 72 balls, hitting ten fours.
Marcus Stoinis (2/54), Mitchell Starc (2/55) and Nathan Coulter Nile were the pick of the bowlers for Australia picking six wickets between them.
Soumya Sarkar had dismissed three Aussie batsmen in the first innings.
In ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 ahead, Australia meet England on 18 June, Tuesday while Bangladesh meet Afghanistan on 17 June, Monday.
Brief Scores: Australia: 381/5 (David Warner 166, Usman Khawaja 89, Aaron Finch 53; Soumya Sarkar 3/58) versus Bangladesh 333/8 (Mushfiqur Rahim 102*, Mahmadullah 69, Tamim Iqbal 62, Shakib Al Hasan 41; Mitchell Starc 2/55, Marcus Stoinis 2/54)