Australia 277 for 9 (Connolly 149. Labuschagne 29, Shoriful 6-48) beat Bangladesh 274 for 5 (Hridoy 83, Litton 58, Mosaddek 56) by one wicket
Cooper Connolly 's valiant 149 carried Australia to a nervy one-wicket win over Bangladesh in Dhaka. helping them overcome a dramatic late collapse triggered by Shoriful Islam 's six-wicket haul. Adam Zampa struck the winning boundary with two runs required for victory. after Australia had lost four wickets for five runs in the closing stages. It was the perfect finish to a fascinating ODI series that Bangladesh won 2-1. were one good delivery from winning it 3-0.
Connolly's maiden ODI century gave Australia control of the chase until he became the ninth batter dismissed in the 49th over. His three consecutive sixes off Taskin Ahmed in the 45th over had put the target within reach,. the rest of the Australia batters stumbled. Shoriful removed Oliver Peake. Xavier Bartlett off consecutive balls before getting Ben Dwarshuis caught at point in the 48th over.
Strangely, Connolly was off strike for three full overs after Tanzid Hasan dropped Zampa off Shoriful's penultimate delivery. When Connolly finally got the strike, Mustafizur Rahman bowled him off the inside edge. He remained crouched for a long time after being dismissed, having made 149 off 134 balls, with 13 fours. six sixes. At this stage, Australia needed four to win with one wicket in hand.
Earlier, when Australia set out to chase 275, Connolly kicked things off with a flayed cover drive off Taskin Ahmed,. followed it up with a couple more in similar fashion against Mustafizur Rahman in the fourth over. Australia captain Josh Inglis got off to a strong start too,. after striking four boundaries, he fell to Shoriful at short square leg.
The left-arm quick then bowled Matt Renshaw around his legs later in the same over as the stadium rejoiced. Connolly, however, wrested back the momentum with two boundaries in Shoriful's next over. While Connolly dominated at one end, Australia lost Alex Carey in the 12th over. When the left-hander played an uppish drive off Taskin. Soumya Sarkar flew to his left to completed a superb reverse-cup catch.
Australia steadied themselves thereafter, with Connolly. Marnus Labuschagne putting on 64 for the fourth wicket - the first of three successive half-century stands. Connolly launched Mustafizur for his first six in the 22nd over before Shoriful removed Labuschagne in the 24th. This time, substitute wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan took a good diving catch to his right.
Connolly continued to hit sixes, taking on Shoriful. Mosaddek, while Cameron Green chipped in with a huge six over midwicket off Tanvir Islam. Connolly reached his century in the 31st over with a driven single off the left-arm spinner Tanvir. before Mahedi Hasan, playing his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup, removed Green for 27.
Peake struck two fours. a six in a 64-run sixth-wicket stand with Connolly, and by the end of the 45tth over, with Australia needing nine off 30 balls with five wickets in hand, victory looked like a formality. It turned out to be anything but that.
Earlier, Bangladesh's innings was built around half-centuries from Towhid Hridoy, Litton Das and Mosaddek Hossain. Hridoy top-scored with a breezy 83, striking eight fours and adding substantial partnerships with Litton and Mosaddek.
Bangladesh lost an early wicket for the third successive game when Xavier Bartlett had Soumya Sarkar dragging a cover drive onto his stumps with the second ball of the match. The hosts recovered through a 51-run second-wicket stand between Tanzid Hasan. stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who replaced the concussed Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Matt Renshaw. the part-time offspinner who has been regularly used in this ODI series, broke through twice in the space of 4.2 overs. He had Tanzid caught at mid-on for 19 before bowling Shanto for 24.
Litton and Hridoy steadied things for Bangladesh with a 92-run stand for the fourth wicket. The pair remained patient on a slightly slower pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Litton broke through against Riley Meredith, whipping him for a four and a six in the 26th over.
Litton, however, retired hurt in the 32nd over due to cramps. Despite the regular daily showers in Dhaka, the heat and humidity remained oppressive.
Mosaddek, continuing his fine ODI comeback, attacked Meredith and Dwarshuis with boundaries in quick succession. Hridoy brought up his 13th ODI fifty in the 39th over before taking Renshaw for two more fours in the 41st. The pair kept finding boundaries until Hridoy fell in the 46th over.
Bangladesh struggled to accelerate thereafter, adding only 32 runs in the last five overs. Litton returned in the penultimate over and hit Dwarshuis for a six in the final over. He remained unbeaten on 58 off 78 balls, with six boundaries, including two sixes.
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