Australia fend off Tamim scare for cleansweep

DARWIN, Sept 6 (Cricinfo) Tamim Iqbal's one-man entertainment show was not enough to turn Darwin into Cardiff as Australia wrapped up a 3-0 cleansweep with a 73-run victory over Bangladesh. Tamim mastered the slow surface better than anyone had all week. He showed more flair than Australia's key man Michael Hussey but only two of Tamim's colleagues reached double figures and three wickets to James Hopes led to a familiar result. brBangladesh were chasing 199, which despite their batting woes on this tour looked like a vaguely feasible target. When Tamim lashed the likes of Hopes and Mitchell Johnson there were some nervous flutters from Michael Clarke, who was part of the team when Bangladesh upset Australia in Cardiff in 2005. brSeveral facets of Bangladesh's game came together on this occasion Tamim was on fire, their spinners bowled terrifically tightly and their fielding was sharp. Again, the disappointment was the rest of their batting as several men threw their wickets away unnecessarily. It was all the more frustrating for Bangladesh this time because, the way Tamim was playing, they had a genuine chance. brHe made their first half-century of the series and finished with 63, skying a catch off Shane Watson as he ran out of colleagues. He ended up with more than half of his team's 125 and the Man-of-the-Match award. Tamim was so enthusiastic that one attempted pull off Hopes finished with the bat flying halfway to the square-leg umpire after he failed to connect with the ball. brMore often he did make powerful contact. A cracking drive for four over mid-on from Hopes was followed next ball by a cleanly-struck six to the same spot. But Hopes easily got through the defences of Mahmudullah and trapped Dhiman Ghosh lbw, having already removed Tamim's most important partner, Shakib Al Hasan. brShakib had batted well for 27, although he was dropped at third man on 14. His luck ran out when he tried to pull Hopes but failed to connect properly and lobbed a catch to Michael Hussey at midwicket. It was the end of Bangladesh's best stand of the series and, as it turned out, the end of their chances. The pair had led a good recovery after the top order stumbled to 3 for 22. brMohammad Ashraful fell to an awful piece of batting for the third time in the series. As the captain and arguably best batsman in a young side, his approach in the middle must be a major concern for the coaching staff. They had 50 overs to score 199. What they needed from this innings, as they have through the whole series, was patience and concentration. Instead Ashraful showed no application. He had 3 on the board when he drove Stuart Clark in the air with no real control and was taken by Michael Clarke at point.