Related Links : 3rd ODI Scorecard | Bangladesh in Australia 2008
Aussies had to struggle quite a bit to win the 3rd and final ODI at the Murray Cricket Ground on what was a sluggish pitch. The hosts had to defend a target of just 199 which was a golden opportunity for Bangladesh to chase down and create an upset. But once again the batting showed that it doesn’t have the much needed class to compete. There was one promising knock though coming from opener Tamim Iqbal, who made 63 from just 69 balls (with 5 fours and a six) but it was always going to be in vain.
Australia won a crucial toss which allowed them to bat first. After a decent start of 41, the homeside found it too difficult to get the scoreboard ticking against the three Bangladeshi spinners. But the experience of playing hundreds of games had helped Michael Hussey to assess the situation and to bat sensibly. Michael Hussey stayed right till the end with an unbeaten 57 that came in 72 balls with 2 fours and a six. Cameron White produced a neat cameo with an unbeaten 22 from 24 balls as Australia got to 198 for 5. Earlier there were contributions coming in from openers Shaun Marsh (30 from 36 with 4 fours), Shane Watson (27 from 44 balls) and Skipper Michael Clarke, who struggled to get 25 runs in 66 balls! Left arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak gave away just the 47 runs in their combined 20 overs!
With the ball, Stuart Clark came to the rescue of the Aussies with a couple of early wickets that exposed the Bangladeshi middle order to the new ball. Once again the Bangladeshi Skipper Mohammad Ashraful cound’t get amongst the runs to lead from the front. Opener Tamim Iqbal found an ally in Shakib Al Hasan and looked set to work towards the target. However, in the 17th over, James Hopes broke the partnership dismissing Shakib Al Hasan (27 from 29 with 5 fours) to reduce the score to 82 for 4. Hopes went onto pick two more wickets and Tamim Iqbal was running out of partners. He fell in the 24th over to make it 103 for 8. Last man Shahadat Hossain didn’t come out to bat because of a split webbing to leave Bangladesh all out for 125 in just under 30 overs. Young Tamim Iqbal was appreciated through the Man of the Match award while Mike Hussey was the Player of the Series.