Mustafizur, Taskin helps Bangladesh to historic ODI series win over Australia

With a five-wicket victory (DLS) in the second match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday (June 11), Bangladesh completed a historic first ODI series victory over Australia.

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. When Taskin Ahmed threw an angle-in, Matthew Short raised his arms to record his third duck in a row. 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.

Inglis, who scored a four and a six off consecutive deliveries, put Nahid Rana, the star of Bangladesh's victory in the series opener, under early pressure. 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.

Australia's true comeback began with a century stand between Xavier Bartlett and Labuschagne at 81/6. 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 that they were after. 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 vigilance, bowling Bartlett before Adam Zampa was cleaned up off his first ball. After that, the skies opened up, stopping Australia's innings after the 42nd over.

Bangladesh had a DLS-revised target of 192 runs in 41 overs, but Tanzid Hasan Tamim was run out for a duck in the first over when he hit a full shot back at Bartlett. In the same over, Najmul Hossain Shanto was ruled LBW, but after a successful review, the call was overturned and the ball went down leg. Before laying into Riley Meredith's first over, which resulted in 13 runs, Shanto and Soumya Sarkar put together an 86-run partnership for the second wicket. Sarkar also slammed the in-form 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 too 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 Adam 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, however, with Shanto filling in for him. The skipper's fitness for the third One-Day International on June 14 remains to be determined, as Australia hopes to avoid an unprecedented whitewash.