Rain delays start of match

St Peter's, Antigua, Mar 31 (UNI) Overnight heavy rains delayed Bangladesh's debut in the Super Eight phase of the World Cup as huge wet patches on either side of the ground held up the start of their match against defending champions Australia at the Sir Vivian Richards Ground here today.

Both sides retained their playing XIs from their earlier matches and the Tigers, who knocked out India in the preliminary league, are keen to have a go at the Aussies, especially in case the number of overs is reduced significantly.

By 10.15 am local time, umpires Aleem Dar and Billy Bowden had already undertaken three inspections of the playing area and the outfield, on which the ground staff have been busy trying to dry out. A sunny day means there will be play, but just how many overs will be possible remains unclear.

Australia are already on four points, two carried over from the preliminary league stage and two from their opening win over the West Indies.

Bangladesh have a clean slate at the moment, and are one of the two sides in the Super Eight stage with Ireland that are expected to concede points to the rest of the pack in the hunt for the four semi-final berths.

Speaking ahead of this match however, Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar had exuded confidence, saying ''We're not finished yet. It is not going to be easy; it will be very tough.

But we believe it is not an impossible task.'' ''We had a good win against New Zealand, another against India -- and we strongly believe that if we play well together on our day we can beat anyone.'' Aussie captain Ricky Ponting, however, is unfazed by the talk.

''The cricket you've seen us play the last few weeks would indicate that the way we are going at the moment, that we should be able to play cricket good enough to win this game.

That's all we've been focused on the last couple of days,'' he said.

Teams: Australia: Ricky Ponting (Capt), Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Glen McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (capt), Abdur Razzak, Aftab Ahmed, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Mushfiqur Rahim, Saqibul Hasan, Shahriar Nafees, Syed Rasel, Tamim Iqbal Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Billy Bowden (New Zealand) TV Umpire; Rudy Koertzen (South Africa) Match Referee: Chris Board (England) UNI