Rattled by suspensions and the loss of their best batsman to illness just before the match, Bangladesh have battled hard against Australia before going down by three wickets in the World Twenty20 Super 10s.
Their second straight defeat has virtually put paid to their chances of a semi-final spot in the showcase event.
They now languish at the bottom of the table with two defeats in as many matches halfway through the business end of the tournament.
Asked to bat first, Mahmudullah’s gritty late cameo helped the Tigers rally to a fighting 156 for 5 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.
Australia reached their target with nine balls remaining despite a late slump that made things tight towards the end. They were helped by some very ordinary fielding and uninspiring captaincy from Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
The crucial Group 2 tie had begun with Bangladesh lacking firepower in their bowling department following the ban of their key bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for suspect actions.
They were dealt another heavy blow when dashing opener Tamim Iqbal, who hit first century of the competition, was forced to sit out the game.
The victory saw Australia bounce back from their loss in their opener against New Zealand to stay alive in the competition. They have climbed to the third in the group, level with Pakistan on 2 points.
Chasing 157 to win, openers Usman Khawaja (58 off 45 balls) and Shane Watson (21) gave them a confident start, putting 61 for the opening stand.
Khawaja took advantage of Bangladesh’s wayward bowling to score his maiden T20 International half-century in 36 deliveries and lay a solid platform.
A superb throw from Sabbir Rahman then saw the back of Shane Watson (21), who was dropped on 13 by Mohammad Mithun Ali. Mashrafe appeared in a better position to take the skier than Mithun who ran in the opposite direction to make the fumbling effort.
The runs kept flowing as the batsmen picked out gaps to hit boundaries. Khawaja scored 33 more with Steven Smith (14) before Mustafizur bowled a beauty to remove the skipper.
David Warner (17 off 9) opened his account with a six and a boundary but Smith’s wicket gave Bangladesh a boost.
Al-Amin Hossain bowled Khawaja (58 off 45 balls) around his leg inthe 14th over with the score at 115/3 and the Australians lost their way.
before Shakib Al Hasan held on to a return catch which was struck powerfully by David Warner (17). Australia had slipped to 119 for 4 in the 15th over.
But whatever pressure was building on the Aussies was released when Mashrafe brought back Saqlain Sajib back into the attack in the next over.
The debutant spinner made a mess of his length to be hit for three fours that stacked even more odds against Bangladesh.
And yet, the Australians threw their wickets away at regular intervals.
Mustafizur bowled some beautiful deliveries in the next over, one of which accounted for the wicket of Mitchell Marsh (6), but was bludgeoned for two sixes by Glenn Maxwell towards the end to ease some Aussie nerves.
Shakib returned for his last over in the 18th and struck with his first ball as he skidded one through to Maxwell (26 off 15 balls) who charged and missed to be stumped.
But Al-Amin Hossain dropped a sitter two balls later while a poor throw from the deep later in the over dented Bangladesh’s slim chances.
Shakib, however, took out Johan Hastings (3) with the last ball of the over as Australia needed 5 runs off the last two overs with three wickets remaining.
Sajib then came to bowl as James Faulkner (5 not out) cracked a boundary to finish things off.
Earlier, Mahmudullah smashed an unbeaten 29-ball 49 to make sure Bangladesh had a respectable total on being asked to bat.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh: 156-5 in 20 overs (Mithun 23, Soumya 1, Sabbir 12, Shakib 33, Shuvagata 13, mahmudullah 49*, Mushfiq 15*; Zampa 3-23, Watson 2-31)
Australia: 157-7 in 18.3 overs (Khawaja 58, Watson 21, Smith 14, Warner 17, Maxwell 26, Marsh 6, Faulkner 5*, Hastings 3, Nevill 1*; Shakib 3-27, Mustafizur 2-30, Al-Amin 1-14)
Result: Australia win by 3 wickets
Man-of-the-Match: Adam Zampa (Australia)
Source: Bd news24