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Cooper Connolly joins the elite list: The Bangladesh vs Australia three-match ODI series ended on Sunday. The home team, Bangladesh, won the series 2–1, their first win over the Australia national cricket team in their cricket history. This is a big achievement for Mehdi Hasan Miraj’s team. However, they will be disappointed by not being able to clean sweep the Kangaroos despite getting chances.
In the third and final ODI, Australia won the match by one wicket as Cooper Connolly scored a brilliant inning of 149 runs off 134 balls, hitting 13 fours and 6 sixes in his amazing innings. He single-handedly won the match for the Australian team, when he was out, Australia needed 3 runs from 6 balls and Adam Zampa hit a four on the third ball of the last over.
Cooper Connolly joins elite list
After Cooper Connolly’s sensational innings, he joined an elite list of Australian cricketers, which included two former World Cup-winning stars, Ricky Ponting and Steve Smith. He became the third youngest Australian cricketer to score a century in ODIs after Ponting and Smith. This is a historic moment for the young batsman of Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Cooper Connolly achieved this feat in the last ODI at the age of 22 years and 296 days. Ponting made this score in 21 years and 21 days, followed by Smith in 21 years and 118 days. The southpaw was given the Player of the Match award for his excellent innings.
It’s Good Enough – Cooper Connolly
After winning the POTM, Cooper Connolly said that he was nervous after being bowled out for 149 with only one wicket left, but he was confident that Adam Zampa and Riley Meredith would lead the team to victory. He also expressed his feelings about opening the batting in place of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head, who missed the series due to injury and workload management respectively.
“Yeah, it’s quite nice to get over the line there. I was a bit nervous, supporting Zampa and Riley to get us over the line, but yes, it’s good to win. (Are you enjoying your role as an opener with that kind of innings?) Yeah, it’s definitely satisfying, but obviously at the top there are two world-class players in Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh.”
“Unfortunately, they were not available. But yes, it was good to get the opportunity at the top and make the most of it. But yes, I just want to keep my options open. (Was the plan to go in early and attack and take them to line and length?) No, not necessarily. I think that’s the way me and Josh play. We like to be aggressive.”
Australia reached the line
The match won the toss and elected to bat first, and once again it was the home team’s middle order that scored runs, with Tauheed Hridoy scoring 83 and Mosaddek Hossain scoring 56 to take the score to 274/5.
While chasing the target, Australia lost three wickets in the span of 30 runs due to a slight collapse, but small contributions from the middle order helped them win the match in a thrilling manner.
