One can hardly question the intent from the Bangladeshi batters which remained positive right from the start after Australian skipper Matthew Wade won the toss and elected to bat in the first of the five-match T20I series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

However, the execution of batting with positive intent failed to work for the Tigers against a quality Australian bowling attack.

Although the aforementioned word "positive" does not imply that the batsman had to go after every delivery, rather it required a proper execution of the plan with a mix of aggression and intelligence.

Talking about intelligence, Soumya Sarkar could hardly show any. The left-hander looked to make some room going away from the ball for a cut to pacer Josh Hazlewood and eventually chopped it onto the stumps on two.

Before the bowlers led by Nasum Ahmed skittled out Australia for 107 to register their first T20I victory over the visitors. PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

Naim Sheikh on the other end looked solid and struck two gorgeous sixes on the leg side to Mitchell Starc and it seemed that the left-hander would be able to capitalize on the start.

That was however not the case though as the over-aggressiveness got the better of Naim who opted to play a reverse sweep of a rather fuller Adam Zampa delivery and was eventually bowled after scoring a decent 30.

Although Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad tried to take the tempo of the innings on the higher side with some expansive strokes but the Tigers were kept on a tight leash as the Aussies had the dot balls in their favour.

Mahmudullah did attempt to notch up a gear but the pressure kept mounting on him before he eventually departed on a run-a-ball 20 to become Hazlewood's second victim.

The Tigers were frustrated where all the batters looked to play the big shots and ignored taking singles and doubles and in the process, they had lost wickets at crucial stages.

When Nurul Hasan was dismissed in the 15th over, Bangladesh had already given away 42 dot balls out of ninety legal deliveries. The hosts had an uphill task of posting a big total from then on.

Top-scorer Shakib had to play the big shots since Bangladesh was struggling against the Aussie bowlers and was eventually dismissed on 36 off 33 balls to become Hazlewood's third victim.

Bangladesh did manage to score 27 runs in the final three overs and eventually posted a modest 131 for 7, courtesy of Afif Hossain's 24. Starc showed his class to pick up two wickets in the end and became the first Australian to pick 50 wickets in the shortest format.

For Bangladesh, it was probably a reality check, especially for the batters, who might have realised the magnitude of the quality of this opponent they rarely get to encounter.