Adam Zampa learning the leg-spin trade

His three for 23 is the fourthbest bowling figures by an Australia spinner in T20Is and that helped his team beat Bangladesh by three wickets in their second match. Mohammad Mithun and Shakib Al Hasan looked good after Shane Watson took two early wickets upfront. 

The pair added 37 runs for the third wicket in four overs and scored at over eight runs an over. It was time for Zampa to come into the attack. The leg-spinner was right on target in the middle of the innings just as Bangladesh looked to rebuild on a hesitant start. 

Zampa first sent back Mithun, who hit a long hop in the tenth over to Shane Watson at midwicket for 23. He then dismissed Shuvagata Hom lbw, with a flipper, for 13 in his next over. Bangladesh now looked to Sakib Al Hasan to take them out of trouble again, but in the 16th over, Zampa forced the left-hander to top-edge a catch as he made room to cut a wide delivery. 

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 55 runs for the fifth wicket to help their side reach 156 in their innings “Nice to make a bit of a difference. After a disappointing loss to New Zealand, nice to get the the tournament rolling, ” Zampa, the man of the match, said. 

“Playing in the BBL, 80,000 people, I’m used to it. I’ve played three or four games here now, it’s a learning curve. Just getting used to the length and the pace and to different players and their areas. We’ve had a bit of travel, off to Mohali now and we’ll be there for a week, that’ll be nice.” 

“The wickets in Australia don’t spin as much, and hitting the wickets over there is crucial,” Zampa said. “My plans haven’t changed as such, but the lengths that you bowl here, the players can hit it in different areas than they do in Australia. That’s something I’m trying to get used to quickly. 

“The ball sticks in the wicket a bit here, as we’ve seen tonight. It’s a little bit slow off the pitch and my first wicket was a pull shot hit to deep midwicket. In Australia that ball would probably skid on to leg-stump, and it’s harder to play those shots. So the length that you bowl is crucial. 

You use changes of pace as well over here. Generally, if you change your pace in Australia, you get smacked over your head.” Prior to making a move to South Australia for the start of the 2013-14 domestic season, Zampa’s early experiences learning his trade was through the New South Wales team with Steven Smith under the captaincy of Steve O’Keefe. 

Smith, who had started as a leg-spinner, does not bowl often to concentrate on his batting but Zampa said they had an understanding between them. “I work really well with Steven. He’s been really good for my game since I was a young guy, so to have him standing there at cover all the time is really nice. I haven’t changed anything at all. My plans are pretty simple, and to have him there in the back of my ear to reassure me is nice.”