- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
ACE Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who went for five sixes in an over in the fourth Twenty20 against Australia on Saturday (7), came back strongly on Monday (9) to spin a web around the Kangaroos to take four wickets for only nine runs to help his side script a 60-run win. The victory gave Bangladesh a dominating 4-1 win over Australia, placed four places above them in the International cricket Council rankings in the shortest format of the game.
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This is the first time that Bangladesh have beaten Australia in a T20 match as well as a series.
Australia never looked comfortable while chasing a modest target of 123 to earn a consolation win after the Tigers wrapped up the series by winning the first three matches. Skipper Mathew Wade (22 off 22) tried to keep the scoreboard ticking but no other Australian batsman apart from Ben McDermott (17 off 16) could reach the two-digit mark. Once he fell to Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah who is primarily a batsman, the Australian innings crumbled like a pack of cards, losing their last six wickets for only nine runs. Australia were all out for 62, their lowest total in the format, in 13.4 overs.
Earlier in the day, the hosts won the toss at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka and elected to bat. All the five matches of the series have been played at the same venue. Bangladesh struggled with their bat with opener Mohammed Naim top scoring with 23. They managed 122 runs for the loss of eight wickets with pacers Nathan Ellis and Dan Christian picking two wickets each.
Australia won the third match by three wickets after Bangladesh won the first three by 23 runs, five wickets and 10 runs, respectively.
Shakib Al Hasan was adjudged the man of the match as well as the man of the series. He completed 100 wickets in the format and also became the first-ever cricketer to complete 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in the T20s.
