Australia lose three wickets without adding a run to the scoreboard

Australia lost three wickets without adding a single run to the scoreboard — and as unbelievable as it may sound, it is true.

After Taskin Ahmed struck in the opening over, Mustafizur Rahman ripped through the Australian top order with two wickets in the next over, leaving the five-time world champions reeling and consigning them to an unwanted place in ODI history.

Australia became only the fourth team in ODI cricket to lose their first three wickets before scoring a run. The rare feat had occurred only three times previously.

The most recent instance also involved Bangladesh. During the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas dismissed Bangladesh's first three batters with successive deliveries, completing a remarkable hat-trick in the opening over of the match.

Bangladesh entered the second ODI looking to clinch the series after winning the opener. Although captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz once again lost the toss, the disappointment quickly faded.

Asked to bowl first, Bangladesh made the perfect start. Taskin Ahmed removed Matthew Short in the opening over. In the previous match, Short had been bowled by Taskin off the very first ball; this time, he fell on the fourth delivery of the innings. The bowler, batter and mode of dismissal remained unchanged.

Mustafizur then tightened Bangladesh's grip on the contest in the second over. Cooper Connolly departed off the first ball, marking only the third occasion in Australia's ODI history that both openers were dismissed for ducks.

The left-arm pacer struck again on the next delivery when Matthew Renshaw edged behind to Litton Das. Although the umpire initially turned down the appeal, Bangladesh successfully overturned the decision on review.

Bangladesh XI: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (captain), Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Towhid Hridoy, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana, Tanvir Islam.

Australia XI: Josh Inglis (captain), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Adam Zampa.