Bangladesh on Saturday defended 127 runs to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead over mighty Australia at Dhaka. With this win, the Bangla Tigers created history, winning their first bilateral series against the five-time World Cup winners in any format. 

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Being asked to bowl first, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa affected two quick wickets to get Bangladesh to 3/2 by the third over. The hosts’ most experienced players Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Mahumudullah batted cautiously to take the score to 28/2 at the end of the powerplay. However, Al Hasan (26 off 17 balls) was dismissed off Mitchell Marsh. Mahumudullah scored 52 runs in 53 balls. 

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For Australia, right-arm medium-fast Nathan Ellish became the first player in T20I history to record a hattrick on debut. He dismissed Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan off the last three balls of the innings. Bangladesh finished their innings at 127/9.

After losing Matthew Wade early, Mitchell Marsh and McDermott played the rescue act, getting the score to 69/1 in 13 overs. However, just when the Aussies thought the match was in full control, Shakib Al Hasan dismissed McDermott (35 off 41) and triggered the visitors’ downfall. Moises Henriques (2), Alex Carey (20) and Daniel Christian (7) choked and Australia could manage only 117 runs. 

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Marsh (51) became the first Aussie to score a half-century in the series. Mustafizur gave away only one run in the penultimate over, leaving Australia 22 to win off the final one. Despite Carey’s six off the first ball, Mahedi kept his nerve, giving only singles and ultimately restricting the visitors. 

“Boys stood up during important times. It was incredible to see the boys fight today. When me and Shakib were batting, we wanted to bat till the 16th or 17th over as we thought it wouldn’t be easy for the new batter. We focussed on our process today and held it together. When we were about to enter the field, I wanted Shakib to have a word. All the bowlers did their homework. Mustafizur was brilliant tonight. We had a chat in Zimbabwe that we need to step up as we think we are a balanced side. We are a pretty decent side than the ranking suggests. We just need to be sensible while executing our skills,” player of the match, Mahmudullah said.