Australia seek response as Bangladesh close in on landmark series win

Big Picture: History beckons Bangladesh

Bangladesh will look to take the chance of a maiden ODI series win against Australia, having taken a 1-0 lead after handing them a drubbing in the first ODI on Tuesday.

Bangladesh made contributions at almost every key juncture in the first match. Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto got them to a strong position after Saif Hassan’s early wicket, before Mosaddek Hossain took charge of the middle order alongside Tawhid Hridoy. Mosaddek excelled in his first international game since 2022, first with his unbeaten 86 and then with two wickets.

Form guide

Bangladesh WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia LLWLL

In the spotlight: Mosaddek Hossain and Nathan Ellis

In Mosaddek Hossain, Bangladesh found the stability that they had missed for a long time in their middle order. Mosaddek took on Australia bowlers, while also continuously rotating the strike when he walked out to bat at 140 for 4 in the 26th over. Out came his array of shots over extra cover and powerful straight hitting. Mosaddek has also added the switch-hits to his repertoire.

Nathan Ellis kept Australia in shape during the first ODI, with his combination of excellent new-ball bowling and change-up deliveries throughout his 10 overs. Ellis is not exactly a stranger to Bangladesh conditions, having taken a hat-trick on his T20I debut here in 2021. But these were slightly more helpful conditions for fast bowling, as he used the early movement to his advantage. Later, Ellis used slower balls to remove Tanzid Hasan and tail-ender Tanvir Islam. Australia will hope Ellis delivers similar punches in the second ODI.

Team news

Bangladesh are likely to stick to the same XI.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Tawhid Hridoy, 5 Litton Das, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Nahid Rana

Will Australia tinker with their playing XI? They have spin options in Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann, a pacer in Ben Dwarshuis and a batting allrounder Oliver Peake.

Australia (probable): 1 Matt Short, 2 Cooper Connolly, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Josh Inglis (capt & wk), 5 Alex Carey, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Matt Renshaw, 8 Liam Scott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

Bangladesh had said they should have scored 320 instead of 284 in the first ODI at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, so another batting-friendly pitch can be expected. There are however concerns about the weather, with some rain forecast in Dhaka on Thursday.

Stats and trivia

• Mosaddek Hossain won a player-of-the-match award in ODIs after seven years during the first match on Tuesday.
• Adam Zampa bowled as the fifth-change bowler for the first time in his ODI career on Tuesday.
• Nahid Rana’s four-wicket haul in the first ODI took him to 31 wickets in nine matches this year, the most by any fast bowler in 2026.