Bangladesh secured a historic first-ever ODI series win over Australia in the second match of the series, chasing a revised target of 192 (DLS method) with five wickets and 36 balls to spare. This marks only the third time Bangladesh has ever beaten the six-time world champions in One Day Internationals. It all started from Cardiff 2025 in the NatWest series, where Bangladesh shocked the cricketing world by chasing down a target of 250 with 5 wickets and 4 balls to spare, thanks to Mohammad Ashraful’s maiden ODI ton, marking their first win in history against the mighty Aussies. 21 years later, with a massive performance from Masoddek Hossein and Nahid Rana, Bangladesh registered a historic home win in the first match of the series. In the second game of the series on Thursday, Bangladesh made names in cricket books as they sealed their first ODI series victory 2-0 against the Aussies.
Winning the toss, Australia opted to bat, unlike the first ODI. But Bangladesh pacers ripped apart the Aussies' batting lineup in no time. Openers Matthew Short and Cooper Conolly went out for a duck, but only Marnus Labuschagne’s unbeaten 55 and Xavier Bartlett’s 52 off 48 balls helped Australia to put up a respectable total of 182 on the board as they went all out in the 42nd over. Taskin Ahmed banged early deliveries precisely, taking an opening-over wicket-maiden to set the tone. The star Mustafizur Rahman delivered a crucial double-wicket maiden, dismantling the top order and finishing with three scalps. Tanvir Islam supported the pacers efficiently, claiming two crucial middle-order wickets.
Coming down to bat, Bangladesh comfortably orchestrated the run chase. Even though Tanzid Tamim fell early, Soumya Sarkar (42), Najmul Hossain Shanto (41) and Towhid Hridoy (40) built a strong foundation for the hosts. Mustafizur Rahman fetched his player of the match award post the historic win for his outstanding spell against Australia. These back-to-back performances from Bangladesh depict their improvement in the game as they have now won 5th straight series at home.
“We showed a lot of courage”: Bangladesh Vice Captain Najmul Shanto after historic ODI series win
Bangladesh batter and vice-captain Najmul Shanto expressed immense pride in his team's historic ODI series triumph, highlighting the squad's fearlessness and resilience. He stated that the team showed "a lot of courage" in how they approached the series and how months of hard work actually helped the players to excel.
“It’s an amazing feeling, and the way we played the series, we showed a lot of courage. We have been working really hard for the last few months, and we want to improve our game and the way we played the last two matches. It’s outstanding. And I am really proud to be a part of the team. So I hope we will play good cricket again,” said the Tigers’ vice captain.
The Tigers will play their third and final ODI against Australia in Dhaka before moving on to the three-match T20I series in Chattogram.
