CT 2017: Rain washes out Australia-Bangladesh tie

London, June 6 (IANS) Australia and Sri Lanka were forced to split points after their Group A match of the ongoing Champions Trophy was washed out due to rain here on Monday.

Australia are now second in the group with two points from as many matches.

The opening match of their campaign against New Zealand was also abandoned due to rain with both teams earning a point each.

The men from Down Under trail group leaders England by a single point.

Bangladesh, who had lost to England in the tournament opener, have managed a single point in two matches.

Chasing a modest target of 183 runs, Australia were off to a steady start with David Warner and Aaron Finch producing an opening stand of 45 runs in 7.5 overs.

After Finch was trapped leg before by Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hussain, Warner and Australia captain Steve Smith continued to bat steadily before rain intervened to stop the proceedings for good.

Warner remained unbeaten on 40 runs off 44 balls with two hits to the fence.

Smith scored 22 runs off 25 deliveries as Australia posted 83/1 in 16 overs before the rain intervened.

Earlier, fast bowler Mitchell Starc clinched a four-wicket haul as Australia restricted Bangladesh to 182 runs.

Starc spearheaded the Australian bowling attack with figures of 4/29 in 8.3 overs.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa was also impressive on the day, conceding just 13 runs in four overs while bagging two wickets.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who had bagged a six-wicket haul in Australia's first match against hosts England, returned figures of 1/40 in his 10 overs.

For Bangladesh, experienced opener Tamim Iqbal was the standout performer with 95 runs off 114 balls.

Electing to bat first, Bangladesh were off to a shaky start as they lost early wickets.

Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan attempted to steady the boat, adding 69 runs between them.

Off-spinner Travis Head trapped Shakib leg before to end what would prove to be the only decent piece of resistance by the Bangladesh batsmen.

Hasan scored 29 runs, hitting just two boundaries in the 48 balls he faced.

The Bangladesh batting line-up folded up after his departure, losing the next six wickets for just 60 runs.

Australia have one point from their opening match against New Zealand which had to be abandoned following too many holdups due to rain.

Bangladesh are yet to garner any points as they were defeated by hosts England in the tournament opener despite putting up a total in excess of 300 runs.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)