Australia brace for do-or-die clash

The overview

With an opening Super 10 phase loss each, both Australia and Bangladesh MUST win this match or their World T20 campaign is pretty much kaput. Unfortunately, only one team can win. Three wins guarantees a semi-final berth, while two wins, at this stage, mathematically keeps the loser's hopes alive.

Whichever way you look at it, Monday's Group 2 match is huge. Steve Smith's men entered the tournament as one of the favourites, but a bleak batting performance in Dharamashala led to an eight-run loss to the Black Caps. Bangladesh breezed through the qualifying stage undefeated before losing to a spirited Pakistan at Eden Gardens by 55-runs.

Quick Single: Lehmann issues batsmen challenge

It's now make or break for these two teams, with one side expected to make at least one change, while the other has been forced into a minimum of two.

The teams

Bangladesh have been rocked by the suspensions of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for possessing illegal bowling actions. It leaves their bowling stocks severely depleted, to the point where Mustafizur Rahman, who is battling to overcome a side strain injury, will likely play.

Quick Single: Taskin, Arafat ruled out for illegal actions

For Australia, Smith believes the Bangalore pitch won't take much turn, so expect John Hastings and Josh Hazlewood to be vying for Ashton Agar's spot. Hastings played all three of Australia's T20 matches in the preceding tournament in South Africa, and with his ability to clear the rope, the burly Victorian is Agar's likely replacement.

Possible Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Mithun, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider

Possible Australia XI: Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Peter Nevill (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, John Hastings, Adam Zampa

The venue

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is traditionally a batsman's paradise; in four Indian Premier League matches in Bangalore last season that were unaffected by rain, the average first innings score was 196.

That trend was bucked on Sunday night when Sri Lanka were restricted to 9-122 by the West Indies, but that will is more the exception to the rule.

It was in many respects a perfect T20 pitch; fast with even bounce and some purchase for the spinners who gave it a real rip.

The forecast

Perfect. Around 32 degree Celsius at start time, with no rain predicted and the humidity level at a comfortable 29 per cent.

The history

Australia are three from three against Bangladesh in T20 cricket, with all three encounters occurring in World T20 tournaments. The last time these two teams met was in the last edition of the showpiece T20 event where Australia secured a seven-wicket consolation victory. In all, Bangladesh have won just one of their 26 matches against Australia across all formats, the one victory coming in Cardiff in 2005. Captain Mushrafe Mortaza is the only surviving member of that side, the only current Tigers player to have tasted victory against Australia.

How to watch

Watch the broadcast live and free on Channel Nine's Wide World of Sport from Tuesday 1am AEDT (check local guides) and Fox Sports.

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