Australia elects to bat against Bangladesh in World Cup

Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first against Bangladesh in a World Cup Group match on Thursday.

While a fit-again Marcus Stoinis is back in the side in place of Shaun Marsh, Adam Zampa and Nathan Coulter-Nile come in for Jason Behrendorff and Kane Richardson.

For Bangladesh, Mohammad Saifuddin is out because of a back spasm while Mosaddek Hossain has hurt his shoulder.

In their absence, Sabbir Rahman and Rubel Hossain has been drafted into the playing eleven.

"We are gonna bat first, looks a really good surface. I think we have played well in patches, we haven't been able to play well for all the 400 overs. At stages we have had partnerships with the bat and there have been times we haven't got it right," skipper Aaron Finch said after the toss. 

"Still excited to be in the position we are in but we haven't had a perfect game yet. We have got three changes - Marcus Stoinis is back from injury, Adam Zampa is back and so is Coulter-Nile. Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson and Jason



Behrendorff will miss out. Wickets in the middle overs are just as important, I think," he added.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said that he would have opted to bat first as well.

"We would have liked to bat first well. It's a good wicket, you never know. We are chasing really well in the last few matches. We need to restrict them to a total and chase it down. My knees are alright, trying hard, let's see. The boys are confident after that last match. Hopefully they play hard against Australia," he said.

"Against Australia we have to get early wickets; we have to bowl hard so let's see."

Australia: Aaron Finch (Capt), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (Capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.