Bowlers fire Bangladesh to historic ODI series win over Australia

Bangladesh scripted a historic maiden ODI series win over Australia, backing up their comprehensive performance in the opening ODI with a five-wicket win (DLS) in the second match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday (June 11).

Having been outplayed in the first ODI, Australia found themselves in disarray after opting to bat first, losing their first three wickets without posting a run on the board. Matthew Short recorded his third consecutive duck, shouldering arms to a Taskin Ahmed delivery that angled in. Mustafizur Rahman then had Cooper Connolly and Matt Renshaw nicking off, as Bangladesh's new ball bowlers did not miss a beat. The first run of the innings came in the form of a no ball before captain Josh Inglis attempted a counter-attack, striking a couple of boundaries off Taskin. Alex Carey slashed a short and wide delivery to point, handing Mustafizur his fourth to leave Australia in further trouble.

Nahid Rana, the star of Bangladesh's win in the series opener, was put under early pressure by Inglis, who scored a four and a six off consecutive deliveries. Cameron Green took his time initially, but left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam brought a steady 43-run partnership to an end as Inglis picked out deep cover. Marnus Labuschagne, batting at 7 in a rejigged order, should've been run out for 1 after a mix-up with Green, but Tanvir failed to gather the throw cleanly at his end. Labuschagne was put to the sword by Taskin, who got the ball to nip off the seam but the former hung around, although Green handed Tanvir a simple return catch, falling for a 50-ball 25.

At 81/6, Australia's comeback began in the form of a century stand between Labuschagne and Xavier Bartlett. Bartlett was the aggressor, striking a six and a four off Taskin before rotating strike regularly. Labuschagne's innings was more of a scrap, playing out a lot of dots although Australia got the partnership they needed. Boundaries then followed at regular intervals, while Bartlett pounced on anything loose. Labuschagne copped a blow to the finger from Rana, whom he decided to shield Bartlett from. Both batters then got to their fifties – Labuschagne off the 75th ball he faced and Bartlett off his 44th. Taskin then ended the 103-run stand, bowling Bartlett before Adam Zampa was cleaned up off his first ball. The heavens then opened up, bringing Australia's innings to a halt after the 42nd over.

Bangladesh were set a DLS-revised target of 192 in 41 overs, but lost Tanzid Hasan Tamim for a duck in the opening over as he chipped a full one back to Bartlett. Najmul Hossain Shanto was adjudged LBW in the same over before a successful review saw the call overturned with the ball going down leg. Shanto and Soumya Sarkar put together an 86-run partnership for the second wicket, starting steadily before laying into Riley Meredith's first over, which produced 13 runs. Sarkar also slammed Nathan Ellis for a six, clearly stating his intentions as Bangladesh went past 50 in the ninth over.

Renshaw broke the partnership as Sarkar reverse-swept the ball into the hands of Bartlett at slip. A mini-wobble followed as Shanto fell short of his fifty, while Litton Das was bounced out by Green after a brisk 18-ball 21, putting the game in the balance. Mosaddek Hossain struck a few boundaries off Zampa but his dismissal, miscuing the ball to long off, left the door slightly ajar for Australia at 144/5.

The composed head of skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz then took over alongside Towhid Hridoy. While the boundaries dried up for a few overs, Mehidy and Hridoy rotated strike and ate away at the deficit, narrowing the equation to a point of no return for Australia. However, Mehidy soon copped a nasty blow to the helmet off an Ellis bouncer. Clearly jaded, he vomited before a stretcher was brought out, although he managed to continue without having to retire hurt. In the very next over though, Hridoy helped himself to a six and a four off Meredith, before Mehidy sealed victory in style with a maximum over long leg as Bangladesh cruised home with six overs to spare.

Mehidy did not turn up for the presentation ceremony, with Shanto filling in for him. It remains to be seen if the skipper will be passed fit for the third ODI on June 14, where Australia will look to avert an unprecedented whitewash.

Brief Scores: Australia 187/8 in 42 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 55, Xavier Bartlett 52; Mustafizur Rahman 3-27, Taskin Ahmed 3-33) lost to Bangladesh 195/5 in 35 overs (Soumya Sarkar 42, Najmul Hossain Shanto 41, Towhid Hridoy 40*; Xavier Bartlett 1-23) by 5 wickets via DLS.