World Champions Humbled — Australia's 0/3 Collapse Hands Bangladesh Their Greatest ODI Moment

It took twelve deliveries. That's all Bangladesh needed to do something that 55 years of Australian ODI cricket said was impossible — reduce the reigning World Champions to 0 for 3.

Not 5 for 3. Not 2 for 3. Zero for three. In 1,024 one-day internationals stretching back to 1971, Australia had never lost their opening three wickets without a single run on the board. It had happened only three times before in the entire history of ODI cricket — Pakistan twice and Bangladesh themselves in the 2003 World Cup. On Wednesday in Mirpur, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman added Australia's name to that list of shame.

And in doing so, they sealed something even more significant: Bangladesh's first-ever bilateral ODI series victory over Australia. The margin on paper — five wickets with six overs to spare — doesn't capture the totality of the humiliation. The World Champions have been outplayed, outbowled, and outfought by a team they hadn't lost to in this format since the Cardiff Miracle of 2005.

The architect of Australia's most embarrassing powerplay in ODI history was a 30-year-old left-armer who has spent the better part of a decade proving that pace isn't everything. Mustafizur Rahman's second over read: W, dot, dot, dot, dot, W. A double-wicket maiden. Cooper Connolly edged the first ball behind to Litton Das. Matt Renshaw followed five balls later — initially given not out, but Bangladesh reviewed, and the edge was there.

Combined with Taskin Ahmed's fourth-ball castling of Matthew Short in the opening over — Short shouldering arms to a delivery that jagged back and crashed into off stump — Australia were staring at the scoreboard and seeing three zeroes next to three names. Mustafizur finished with 3-27; Taskin took 3-33. Between them, they owned the series.

For context: Mustafizur's opening spell read 1-1-0-2. One over, one maiden, zero runs, two wickets. That is bowling perfection in its purest form.

Matthew Short's series has been a case study in what happens when a bowler owns a batter. Taskin Ahmed dismissed him on the first ball of the 1st ODI chase. He got him again with the fourth delivery of the 2nd ODI. Three innings, three ducks. The last time both Australian openers scored zero in the same ODI innings was against Pakistan in 2022 — but even that didn't come with a third-wicket duck attached.

Short's struggles are symptomatic of a broader Australian batting malaise in this format. Since the 2023 World Cup triumph in Ahmedabad, Australia's top order has looked like a unit searching for an identity. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh aren't here. The players who are can't handle the movement Mirpur offers in the first ten overs.

In the wreckage of 0/3, Marnus Labuschagne did something he hadn't managed in 14 ODI innings: he scored a half-century. His 55 not out, combined with Xavier Bartlett's counter-attacking 52, rescued Australia from the abyss to a vaguely competitive 187/8. It was Labuschagne's first ODI fifty since September 2024 — a gap of nearly two years.

But one rearguard innings in a lost cause doesn't erase the numbers that preceded it. In his last seven ODIs across 12 months before this knock, Labuschagne averaged 4.5. His century drought across all formats has now stretched to 70 innings. ESPNCricinfo's feature this week asked the question Australian cricket can no longer avoid: 'Where to now for Marnus Labuschagne?'

He is 31, turning 32, and the answer appears to be that nobody — selectors, coaches, or the man himself — has a convincing one.

Bangladesh had beaten Australia exactly once in ODI cricket before this series — the famous Cardiff encounter in June 2005, a match that lives in Tiger folklore. Twenty-one years later, they've done it twice in four days. And it wasn't close.

The 1st ODI was an 86-run demolition via DLS, powered by Nahid Rana's 150kph hostility and Mosaddek Hossain's career-best 86 on his return after four years in the wilderness. The 2nd ODI was a clinical five-wicket win after that apocalyptic start. Two matches, two different ways to beat the World Champions. Both emphatic.

Under Mehidy Hasan Miraz's captaincy, this Bangladesh side plays with a self-belief that previous generations lacked against the big teams. Taskin and Mustafizur have been operating at this level for years; the difference now is that the batting — Shanto, Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar finding form again — is backing them up.

The World Champions' first bilateral ODI series since the title-winning campaign has been a disaster. They arrived in Dhaka without Head, Marsh, and several first-choice players, but that excuse only stretches so far. You don't lose three wickets for zero runs because your best XI isn't available. You lose three wickets for zero runs because the players who are available can't handle the conditions, the pressure, or both.

The dead-rubber 3rd ODI on Sunday offers Australia nothing more than damage limitation. For Inglis, who has been tasked with leading a second-string squad in subcontinental conditions, the assignment was always going to be brutal. But there's a difference between a hard-fought defeat and a historic embarrassment — and 0/3 in 12 balls is firmly in the latter category.

Inglis admitted as much in four words: 'Bangladesh have outplayed us.' For a five-time World Champion nation, those words should sting for a long time.