Australia avoided a series whitewash against Bangladesh in the BAN vs AUS ODI series, but it took a maiden ODI century from Cooper Connolly, a catastrophic late collapse, a reprieved Adam Zampa, and a final-over boundary to get there. Australia’s looked routine for 45 overs, but it became genuinely alarming by the 48th.
Chasing Bangladesh’s 274/5 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Australia scraped through in the last over after losing four wickets for five runs, the kind of collapse that turns what should be a footnote into the whole story.
Connolly carries the chase
For most of the innings, Cooper Connolly was the reason Australia looked comfortable. The 22-year-old left-hander fought through cramping and the brutal Dhaka heat to post 149 from 134 balls, bringing up his hundred off 87 deliveries with a straight drive. It was his first century in Australia colours and also his first ton at international, List A, or first-class level. Just over a month ago, he scored his maiden century in the IPL 2026 for Punjab Kings.
Marnus Labuschagne (29), Cameron Green (27) and Ollie Peake (27) contributed around him. Thanks to those small contributions, the chase was ticking along nicely. Connolly then hurried things up, smashing three sixes in the 45th over to bring the target down to nine from the final five overs. With that, Australia looked done with the hard work.
Australia go from 266/5 to 271/9
But Shoriful Islam thought otherwise. Peake fell to a loose shot, Bartlett followed one delivery later, and then Connolly, four runs away from winning it himself, dragged a drive onto his stumps. Three wickets for five runs, and a chase that had looked academic was suddenly anything but. Islam finished with 6/48.
A dropped catch at gully of Zampa in the 48th over was the moment Bangladesh will keep coming back to. Zampa, given a life he looked unlikely to need, held his nerve and drove through the covers for four with two runs required, finishing it in the final over.
Bangladesh’s first series win over Australia
Australia were without Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood, which matters, though Bangladesh would fairly point out they still had to take 20 wickets and chase down or defend totals to win. They did, taking the series 2-1 and recording their first ODI series win over Australia since 2003.
Before this tour, Australia had lost to Bangladesh just once in 36 years, in the 2005 NatWest series. The defending ODI world champions have now lost a series to them.
| Series | Mat | Won | Lost | Start Date | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh in Australia ODI Series, 2003 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 Aug 2003 | Australia |
| Australia in Bangladesh ODI Series, 2005/06 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 Apr 2006 | Australia |
| Bangladesh in Australia ODI Series, 2008 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 30 Aug 2008 | Australia |
| Australia in Bangladesh ODI Series, 2011 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 Apr 2011 | Australia |
| Australia in Bangladesh ODI Series, 2026 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 Jun 2026 | Bangladesh |
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