CHATTOGRAM: Matt Renshaw’s all-round show with an unbeaten 89 and a wicket helped Australia with a seven-run win over Bangladesh in the second T20 in Chattogram on Friday to seal the three-match series.

Renshaw’s career-best score after Australia won the toss and decided to bat first helped the visitors reach 196-5, which they defended in a last-over thriller, with Bangladesh only managing 189-6.

Chasing 197, Bangladesh made a blistering start through openers Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan, who put on 48 in just 3.4 overs to raise hopes of a series-levelling win.

Tanzid smashed 30 off 15 balls with four fours and a six before Renshaw made the breakthrough, taking a sharp return catch off his own bowling.

Soumya Sarkar kept up the momentum as Bangladesh raced to 72-1 at the end of the powerplay, but Adam Zampa removed him for 15 to slow the charge.

Parvez Hossain Emon then counter-attacked, hammering 36 off 22 balls and combining with Saif in a 53-run stand to keep Bangladesh on course.

But Australia came back in the game when Aaron Hardie dismissed Emon, with captain Mitchell Marsh taking a running catch at cover, before Joel Davies removed the set Saif for 42. Bangladesh needed 63 runs off the last 40 balls, with captain Towhid Hridoy holding the line.

Hridoy fought till the end with a brisk 35 off 22 balls, sharing a 36-run stand with Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, but was caught on the boundary with Bangladesh needing eight off the last ball of the chase.

“We were moving according to plan,” Emon said after the game. “I felt the biggest damage was my wicket and Saif’s wicket falling back-to-back,” he added. “We fell a bit behind there, otherwise it was looking very good.”

Australia’s Hardie took two wickets, while Nathan Ellis, Renshaw, Zampa and Davies claimed one each.

Earlier, Renshaw’s innings lifted the visitors after they stumbled to 44-3 inside the powerplay.

Josh Inglis and Marsh gave the tourists a brisk start before Nasum Ahmed dismissed Inglis for 11 and Nahid Rana removed the in-form Cooper Connolly for one.

Mustafizur Rahman then sent back Ma­rsh for 20 on the final ball of the powerplay.

Renshaw rebuilt with Tim David, whose 45 off 26 balls came in a match-defining 97-run stand.

“It’s nice to get a couple of wins and wrap up the series after two games,” Renshaw said after the game.

The T20 series win comes after Australia’s shock 2-1 loss in the preceding one-day international series earlier this month.

“Yeah, a little bit,” Renshaw said when asked if the result felt like settling scores.

“The one-day series, it was a few really good games,” he added. “It felt like every game we were just a little bit shy.”

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA:

J. Inglis lbw Nasum 11

M. Marsh c Saif b Mustafizur 20

C. Connolly c Saif b Nahid 1

M. Renshaw not out 89

T. David c Tanzid b Gaffar 45

N. Chaudhary lbw Nasum 8

J. Davies not out 13

EXTRAS (NB-1, W-8) 9

TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 196

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30 (Inglis), 2-31 (Connolly), 3-44 (Marsh), 4-141 (David), 5-154 (Chaudhary)

DID NOT BAT: A. Hardie, N. Ellis, S. Johnson, A. Zampa

BOWLING: Nasum 4-0-27-2; Gaffar 4-0-53-1 (1w, 1nb); Nahid 4-0-36-1 (2w); Mustafizur 4-0-34-1 (1w); Rishad 4-0-46-0

BANGLADESH:

Tanzid Hasan c & b Renshaw 30

Saif Hassan c Marsh b Davies 42

Soumya Sarkar c Hardie b Zampa 15

Parvez Hossain c Marsh b Hardie 36

Tawhid Hridoy c David b Hardie 35

Shamim Hossain c Hardie b Ellis 7

Abdul Gaffar not out 13

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-8) 11

TOTAL (for six wickets, 20 overs) 189

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-48 (Tanzid), 2-77 (Soumya), 3-130 (Parvez), 4-134 (Saif), 5-153 (Shamim), 6-189 (Tawhid)

DID NOT BAT: Nasum Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana

BOWLING: Hardie 4-0-40-2 (3w); Johnson 2-0-39-0 (1w); Ellis 4-0-27-1; Renshaw 2-0-13-1; Zampa 4-0-39-1; Davies 3-0-21-1; Chaudhary 1-0-7-0

RESULT: Australia won by seven runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Matt Renshaw

SERIES: Australia lead three-match series 2-0.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2026