Australia planning to nullify Shakib threat, says Carey

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey says the defending champions will target Bangladesh dangerman Shakib Al Hasan when the two sides meet at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Shakib's brilliant century helped the Tigers complete the second-highest World Cup chase in a seven-wicket win over the West Indies in Taunton on Monday.

The 32-year-old allrounder, who is the tournament's leading run-scorer with 384 runs, also hit a century against England earlier in the tournament and has been among the wickets.

When Bangladesh beat Australia in a 2005 one-day international in Cardiff, it was widely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. But they are now an established force and, having beaten both South Africa and the West Indies already at this tournament, they are pushing for a semi-final berth.

"We've obviously put our time into Shakib and all the players at the top of the order as well as their bowling," Carey said on Wednesday.

"He's in probably career-best form with the white ball. So we sort of know the areas and line and length we want to bowl to him and I guess out there we'll assess the conditions as well.

"We leave that up to the bowlers and the captain to do that, but he's one guy we want to get out early."
"Although we're getting results, we're still striving hard to try to find that perfect game and put a full 50 or 100 overs together. But the guys are working really hard and we're aware of the areas to keep improving."