Australia 112 for 3 (Marsh 60) beat Bangladesh 109 for 8 (Hridoy 61*, Johnson 2-6) by seven wickets
Spencer Johnson bowled Australia's most economical four-over spell in men's T20Is as they thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets with nine overs to spare to sweep the series 3-0 after restricting the home side to 109 for 8.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh then tore into Bangladesh's bowling attack, which included Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana, to make 60 off 28 balls.
Marsh's big hitting was set up by Australia's impressive bowling. Left-arm quick Johnson returned figures of 4-0-6-2 as the backbone of their dominance. Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa also took two wickets each, as both spin and pace kept Bangladesh on a leash with only captain Towhid Hridoy offering resistance with an unbeaten 61 off 51 balls.
Johnson bosses powerplay
Nikhil Chaudhary became the first legspinner to bowl the opening over of a T20I for Australia, but it was Johnson who made the early breakthroughs. He had Tanzid Hasan run out when Saif Hassan's forceful drive scraped his finger and smashed into the stumps at the non-striker's end; Tanzid was short of the crease.
Johnson then duped Saif into playing an uppish drive one ball later and he gave Marsh a simple catch at mid-off. Nathan Ellis removed Parvez Hossain Emon after he made 1 off 13 balls. Emon really struggled before giving Joel Davies a catch at midwicket. At 22 for 3, Bangladesh were far from their powerplay performances from the first two T20Is.
Bangladesh in freefall
Stand-in captain Hridoy held the Bangladesh innings together but the rest were in freefall. Zampa reached 350 wickets in international cricket when he bowled Nurul Hasan with a googly in the eighth over. Johnson had Shamim Hossain caught behind attempting a hook, the left-hander falling for a duck, and Chaudhary had Rishad Hossain caught and bowled for 16, after he conceded two fours in his last over. Ellis and Zampa took wickets among the Bangladesh tail as they slipped to 86 for 8.
Hridoy, meanwhile, kept the Bangladesh going with his six boundaries including three sixes. His first six had come when Aaron Hardie was just unable to haul in the ball a long-on, the allrounder initially appearing to have injured himself as he landed on the ground, but he soon returned to the field. Later on, Hridoy struck two more sixes over midwicket, but it was a lone effort from the Bangladesh captain.
Marsh leading scathing attack
Australia made light work of the target. Marsh and Josh Inglis struck Shoriful for two fours each in the first over which cost 17, the most expensive first over by a Bangladeshi against Australia in any format.
Marsh then went after Taskin who conceded 18 runs in the fifth over. Marsh crashed him through mid-off, before Saif let one slip past him at cover. Marsh finished the over with an edged four, and then another back-foot punch.
Rana taken down
Despite the big overs from the other end, Nasum Ahmed was holding up his end. He was finally rewarded with Inglis' wicket in the sixth over when the wicketkeeper-batter was caught at deep midwicket for 17, but he had added 54 runs for the first wicket.
Marsh, though, wasn't done. He clipped Nahid, Bangladesh's fastest bowler, over square-leg for a six, before hammering him down the ground for consecutive boundaries. Cooper Connolly joined Rana's takedown when he struck him over mid-off and through point as Rana went for 20 in his first over.
Marsh clattered Shoriful for his fourth six over extra cover before holing out to him the next ball. Marsh struck eleven boundaries in total and Tim David ended the chase with two sixes off Rishad.
