Mirpur: A combined batting effort of 3 wickets from pacers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman helped Bangladesh beat Australia by 5 wickets.
The win sealed Bangladesh’s first ODI series against Australia as they take a 2-0 lead in the current three-match allotment, with the last match scheduled to be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Australia captain Josh Inglis won the toss and elected to bat first in the match which was reduced to 42 overs apiece due to rain interruption.
But despite brave half-centuries from Marnus Labusagne and Xavier Bartlett, the result backfired as the visitors piled on 187/8 in their allotted overs.
The defending champions got their innings off to a disastrous start as Bangladesh’s pace duo Taskin and Mustafizur dismissed both openers Matthew Short and Cooper Connolly and middle-order batsman Matt Renshaw for no runs within two overs.
After an early stumble, skipper Inglis tried to recover and shared crucial partnerships with fellow wicketkeeper batsmen Alex Carey (13) and Cameron Greene, eventually falling to Tanveer Islam on the first delivery of the 18th over.
Inglis scored 34 runs off 38 balls with 4 fours and a six to contribute significantly to Australia’s total.
Islam struck again on the first delivery of the 22nd over as he took a green catch and bowled, reducing Australia further to 81/6.
After Islam’s double strike, Bartlett joined Labuschagne in the middle and the two combined for a stunning 103-run partnership that saw both batsmen bring up their respective half-centuries.
Taskin broke the stand by dismissing Bartlett for 52 off 48 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes in the last over, while Labuschagne batted till the end and scored an unbeaten 55 off 85 balls with 3 fours.
Pacers Mustafizur and Taskin jointly led Bangladesh’s bowling with three wickets each, but the former conceded just 27 runs in seven overs and was adjudged man of the match. Apart from them, left-arm spinner Islam was caught in two scalps.
After another rain interruption, play was reduced to a further 41 overs, leaving Bangladesh a target of 191 under the Duckworth-Louis Stern (TLS) system.
In reply, the home team chased down the target easily with five wickets and 36 balls to spare with a second-wicket stand of 86 between Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shando.
Following their back-to-back dismissals, middle-order batsman Dawhit Hridoi took control of Bangladesh’s chase, eventually scoring an unbeaten 40 off 55 balls with 2 fours and a six to guide the hosts to a commanding victory.
For Australia, Riley Meredith, Renshaw, Green, Zamba, Bartlett can take one wicket each.