Australia slumped to a historic three wickets for no runs in the second One Day International against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka today, Thursday, recording the earliest three-wicket collapse in their 1,024-match ODI history.
The visitors’ nightmare start left them reeling at 0 for 3 before eventually reaching 37 for 4 at the end of the first 10 overs, as Bangladesh’s pace attack produced a devastating new-ball spell that stunned one of world cricket’s most successful sides.
Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman combined to dismantle Australia’s top order in extraordinary fashion.
Matthew Short, who had been dismissed by Taskin with the first ball of the previous match, once again fell to the Bangladesh fast bowler, this time bowled by the fourth delivery of the innings.
Australia’s troubles deepened in the following over when Cooper Connolly edged Mustafizur’s first ball behind the wicket. Moments later, Matt Renshaw was initially given not out after appearing to nick a delivery to the wicketkeeper, but Bangladesh successfully overturned the decision on review.
The dismissal left Australia on 0 for 3, an unprecedented position for the five-time world champions in ODI cricket.
Before this match, Australia had never lost three wickets without scoring a run in more than a thousand ODIs. Their previous lowest score at the fall of the third wicket had been five.
The collapse also marked only the third occasion in ODI history that both Australian openers were dismissed for ducks. The previous instances came against South Africa in 2006 and Pakistan in 2022.
Australia finally opened their account in the third over through a Taskin no-ball, ending a remarkable sequence of dot deliveries and wickets.
The visitors attempted to rebuild through captain Josh Inglis and Alex Carey. However, Bangladesh struck again when Mustafizur dismissed Carey for 13 off 17 balls, caught by Nazmul Hossain after Australia had recovered to 25 for 3.
Carey’s departure left Australia on 25 for 4 after eight overs, placing further responsibility on Cameron Green, who had scored a half-century in the previous match, to rescue the innings.
Bangladesh entered the contest seeking a historic ODI series victory over Australia after winning the opening match comfortably. Their bowlers provided the ideal platform, reducing the visitors to a position few would have imagined before the start of play.
Soumya Sarkar returned to Bangladesh’s playing XI in place of Saif Hassan, while Australia strengthened their pace resources by including Riley Meredith, who was making his first ODI appearance since 2021 after being drafted into the squad only hours before the match.
With the series on the line, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers produced one of the most memorable opening spells in the country’s ODI history, leaving Australia facing an uphill battle from the very outset.