In reply to Australia’s 249 for five, Mohammad Ashraful scored a run-a-ball century, only the second ever scored in one-dayers by a Bangladeshi, but then holed out next ball, in the deep off Jason Gillespie with 23 needed off the last three overs.
A couple of fortunate fours made it 13 required off the final 12 balls and tailender Mohammad Rafique then sliced Glenn McGrath, the world’s premier fast bowler, for a four past point.
Seven were needed off the final over from Gillespie only for Aftab Ahmed to launch his first ball for six over long on before the pair scampered a run off the next delivery to spark a pitch invasion.
Australia, who surprisingly opted to bat on a pitch offering early seam movement against the lowest-ranked one-day side in the ICC table, had never looked settled after losing vice-captain Adam Gilchrist off the second ball of the match and his skipper Ricky Ponting for a single.
Their total sill looked enough against the lowest-ranked one-day side until Ashraful and skipper Habibul Bashar, who made 47, put on 130 in 22 overs for the fourth wicket to produce a grandstand finish.
Before the start Australia had been ranked at 100-1 ON to beat Bangladesh, who England had thrashed in their Test series before annihilating them by 10 wickets in the opening one-dayer of the tournament on Thursday.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA:
A.C. Gilchrist lbw b Mashrafe 0
M.L. Hayden b Nazmul 37
R.T. Ponting lbw b Baisya 1
D.R. Martyn c Nafis b Baisya 77
M.J. Clarke c Mashrafe b Baisya 54
M.E.K. Hussey not out 31
S.M. Katich not out 36
EXTRAS (LB-3, W-2, NB-8) 13
TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 249
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-9, 3-57, 4-165, 5-183.
DID NOT BAT: G.B. Hogg, J.N. Gillespie, M.S. Kasprowicz, G.D. McGrath.
BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-2-33-1 (1w); Tapash Baisya 10-1-69-3 (7nb); Nazmul Hossain 10-2-65-1; Mohammad Rafique 10-0-31-0 (1w); Aftab Ahmed 10-0-48-0.
BANGLADESH:
Javed Omar c Hayden b Kasprowicz 19
Nafis Iqbal c Gilchrist b Gillespie 8
Tushar Imran c Katich b Hogg 24
Mohammad Ashraful c Hogg b Gillespie 100
Habibul Bashar run out 47
Aftab Ahmed not out 21
Mohammad Rafique not out 9
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-11, W-6, NB-4) 22
TOTAL (for five wickets, 49.2 overs) 250
FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-51, 3-72, 4-202, 5-227.
DID NOT BAT: Khaled Mashud, Tapash Baiysa, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Hossain.
BOWLING: McGrath 10-1-43-0 (2nb); Gillespie 9.2-1-41-2 (2w); Kasprowicz 10-0-40-1 (2nb); Hogg 9-0-52-1 (1w); Clarke 6-0-38-0 (1w); Hussey 5-0-24-0.
UMPIRES: D.R. Shepherd (England) and B.F. Bowden (New Zealand).
TV UMPIRE: M.R. Benson (England).
MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Ashraful.
NEXT MATCH: England v Australia at Bristol on Sunday.—Agencies