Cricket history was made in Mirpur on Wednesday, as Bangladesh pulled off a landmark five-wicket victory over Australia in the second ODI, claiming their first ever ODI series win against the six-time world champions. The underdog hosts have now sealed back-to-back wins over Australia, adding an ODI series triumph to their T20I series victory against the same opponent in 2021, with one match still left to play in the three-match tour. What makes the win even more remarkable is the context of the matchup: before this series, Bangladesh had never won an ODI series against Australia, falling to 0-3 sweeps in each of their four previous encounters. Their only prior individual ODI win against Australia came in a tri-series with England back in 2005, and they waited 21 years between their first 50-over win, which they earned in the opening match of this current series. The match, disrupted by rain, relied on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method to set a revised target for Bangladesh, after a late rain delay cut Australia’s innings short. Australia, missing several of their star first-choice players including pace spearheads Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, top-order batters Travis Head and all-rounder Mitch Marsh, got off to one of the worst possible starts in ODI history. Inside the first two overs, Australia were 0 wickets for 3 runs, becoming only the fourth men’s ODI side in nearly 5,000 matches to lose three wickets without scoring a single run. A sensational collapse was only avoided thanks to a resilient fightback from stand-in captain Josh Inglis, who scored 34, and a match-saving seventh-wicket partnership of 103 runs between Marnus Labuschagne and Xavier Bartlett. Labuschagne finished the innings unbeaten on 55, while Bartlett hit a valuable 52 off 63 balls. Just before the rain rolled in to stop play, Bartlett and spinner Adam Zampa fell to the Bangladesh bowling attack, cutting Australia’s final total to 187 for 8 from 42 overs and adjusting the target Bangladesh needed to chase to 192 runs from 41 overs. Bangladesh’s chase got off to a shaky start, with opening batter Tanzid Hasan Tamim out for a golden duck on the very first over. Middle-order batters Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto steadied the innings, putting together an 86-run second wicket partnership that put Bangladesh back on track, with Sarkar scoring 42 and Shanto adding 41. The pair fell in quick succession after their stand, leaving the hosts on 98 for 3 halfway through their chase, but Bangladesh never let the momentum slip. Tawhid Hridoy hit an unbeaten 40, and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz contributed 22 not out to guide the side across the finish line with six full overs to spare. In a moment that underlined Bangladesh’s fighting spirit, Mehidy was hit on the body by a bouncer from Australian paceman Nathan Ellis, and required medical attention after a stretcher was called onto the pitch, but he refused to leave and finished his innings to secure the win. The result means Bangladesh cannot lose the series, with the final match of the three-match ODI series set to take place in Mirpur this Sunday, kicking off at 06:00 BST. Beyond the bilateral series, this result carries major implications for 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification. Only the top eight teams in the ICC ODI rankings by September this year will qualify directly for the tournament. Currently, England sit in eighth place, Bangladesh ninth, and the West Indies 10th. England face a difficult away series against top-ranked India in July, meaning Bangladesh’s rising ranking points from this historic series could push them above England and alter the automatic qualification landscape ahead of the 2027 tournament. Bangladesh still hold an unfinished goal against Australia: while they now hold ODI and T20I series wins against the side, they are still yet to claim a Test series victory over Australia, a milestone they will look to reach in future matchups.