Captain Clarke stars in impressive win

Cricket365
May 16, 2011

Michael Clarke kicked off his reign as captain on a winning note as his century helped Australia to a comfortable 60-run win over Bangladesh in the first one-dayer in Mirpur.

The 30-year-old led from the front with the bat as his 101 from 111 balls pushed Australia to 270 for seven in their 50 overs. The target proved to be too steep for Bangladesh as they could only manage 210 for five in response.

Clarke, whose innings including six boundaries and two sixes, was the mainstay of the Australian innings as the rest of the batsmen failed to dig in. After being asked to bat first by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al-Hasan, Shane Watson (37), Ricky Ponting (34), Cameron White (20) and Michael Hussey (33) all had starts but couldn't kick on.

Left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo did most of the damage with three for 44 in the middle overs but it was fit-again fast bowler Marshafe Mortaza who gave the hosts the initial breakthrough as Brad Haddin's march down the track ended in him marching back to the dressing room for 10 after he failed to spot a slower ball.

Ponting and Watson followed in quick succession; the former was run out after a mix-up while Watson was trapped lbw by Abdur Razzak.

Australia were wobbling at 138 for four when White holed out a Shuvo delivery to long-on and it was left to Clarke and Hussey to put them back on track. Their 84-run stand pushed Australia past the 200-run mark but Shuvo once again gave the Tigers a sniff as he removed Hussey and Steven Smith in the same over.

However, Mitchell Johnson and Clarke provided some lusty blows in the final few overs to push the hosts to a commanding 270 which proved to be out of Bangladesh's reach in the end.

The hosts' reply got off to a disastrous as they lost Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees and Raqibul Hasan cheaply.

Tamim Iqbal (62) and Shakib Al-Hasan (51) gave Bangladesh a glimmer hope with a 67-run partnership but they failed to score quick enough to keep their side in the match. The match was already over by the time Shakib skied a Smith delivery to long-on in the 42nd over.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah added some respectability to the score with an unbeaten 61-run stand, but they fell short by 60 runs in the end.