Matt Renshaw helped steer Australia to an unassailable 2-0 lead in their T20 series in Bangladesh
Matt Renshaw has been left celebrating what he sees as an “important innings” in his uneven international career after guiding Australia to a T20 series victory over Bangladesh in Chattogram.
The 30-year-old left-hander’s unbeaten 89 off 52 balls, which rescued Australia from another poor start in the second of the three-match series, ended up being the key in his side’s seven-run victory on Friday which handed them an unassailable 2-0 lead.
It came after Renshaw had been going through a torrid time with the bat, having scraped together just 24 runs in his previous five innings in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Australia’s three-format batter was not about to hide how key the career-best T20 knock was in boosting his confidence again.
“I think there’s always those doubts around whether you’re good enough, especially when you’re in and out of formats and in and out of teams, so it was nice to realise that I’m good enough at this format,” beamed Renshaw, who had scored 4, 2, 0, 0 and 18 in his previous innings on tour.
“Obviously my international career has been a bit strange around different formats, but I think just being able to be comfortable in my skin, today was a really important innings for me.
“It came just after a run of low scores, just remembering why I wanted to play and how I wanted to play.
“The way that I started was one of the best starts that I’ve had in my career,” added the Queenslander, who at one point struck three sixes in succession off Rishad Hossein as he enabled Australia to bounce back from 3-44 to rack up a formidable 5-196.
“I was really pumped, and then to go on and make the score I did and set the team up for a good win was really good in this format.”
After losing the ODI series 2-1, player-of-the-match Renshaw, who shared in a key partnership of 97 with Tim David (45 off 26), admitted it felt “a little bit” as if a score had been settled with the T20 triumph.
“There were a few really good games in the one-day series. It felt like every game we were just a little bit shy. We were probably 20, 30 runs short in a couple of games,” he said.
“These last two games, it’s nice to sort of get a little bit of the rub of the green, especially since it’s been a tough tour wins-wise.”
Renshaw, who was a shining light in Australia’s lacklustre T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, also proved his worth again as a bowler, chipping in with a key caught-and-bowled to get rid of dangerous opener Tanzid Hasan for 30 off 15 balls, a key moment as Bangladesh went on to fall just short on 6-189.
A part-time offspinner, Renshaw has still managed to be Australia’s most prolific wicket-taker on tour with eight scalps.
“Apparently my bowling’s not great. I saw a little titbit from one of the Bangladeshi players,” he laughed.
But he was keener to enthuse about the bowling of teammate Nathan Ellis, who went for a miserly 1-27 off his four overs.
“Watching him go about it, the way that he can execute the slower balls, he doesn’t give the batter a really good read. I think it’s probably some of the best death bowling I’ve seen,” said Renshaw.
Qantas Tour of Bangladesh 2026
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
June 9: First ODI: Bangladesh won by 86 runs (DLS Method)
June 11: Second ODI: Bangladesh won by five wickets (DLS Method)
June 14: Third ODI: Australia won by one wicket
Australia T20I squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Nikhil Chaudhary, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
June 17: First T20I: Australia won by four wickets
June 19: Second T20I: Australia won by seven runs
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket
