A valiant effort from stand-in skipper Towhid Hridoy in the dying overs was not enough for Bangladesh to chase down the record 197-run target set by Australia in the second T20I in Chattogram.
Hridoy blazed a brave 35 off 22 deliveries with three boundaries and two sixes in the final overs, but fell just short in the final over.
Facing off against Aaron Hardie, Hridoy was able to clean one massive hit over cover with the fourth delivery and edge another to the ropes with the fifth.
However, that still left eight runs to go with one ball remaining. A fuller delivery from Hardie was hoisted away across the line, into the hands of a waiting Joel Davies to end the innings.
Bangladesh ended their 20 overs at 189/6, seven runs shy of the Aussies’ massive 196-run total.
Brave batting was on display from the start of the innings as Tanzid Hasan smashed four 4s and one six in 15 deliveries to rack up 30 runs. His opening partner Saif Hassan posted a steadier 42 off 33 deliveries. Parvez Hossain Emon smashed three 6s and two 4s for a quickfire 36.
But Australia’s bowling attack kept chipping away, with Aaron Hardie leading the line with 2-40.
Eventually, the towering total from the visitors proved too daunting to overcome.
The day had started optimistically for the Tigers after Australia won the toss and elected to bat first only to lose three early wickets. But Matt Renshaw and Tim David turned up for a brutal fifth-wicket stand that put up 97 runs off only 50 balls.
Renshaw was the architect, though Tigers handed him two lifelines off Nahid Rana's bowling.
The right-hander made them pay in full, motoring to fifty off just 29 balls before finishing unbeaten on 89 off 52 with five sixes and four fours.
David needed no time to settle, tearing into Abdul Gaffar Saqlain on arrival and hammering two sixes and a four off a single over.
The hard-hitting slugger fell for 45 off 26 when he top-edged a big hit to Tanzid Hasan on the boundary.
Their fifth-wicket stand had yielded 97 off just 50 balls by then.
Bangladesh had made a bright start with the ball.
Nahid struck in his very first over on home soil, Nasum Ahmed took his 50th T20I wicket in his 50th match, and Mustafizur Rahman had Mitchell Marsh skying a cutter to midwicket where Saif Hassan took a stunning running catch.
At 44 for three after the powerplay, there was cautious optimism. What followed was carnage.
Rishad Hossain went wicketless and expensive, leaking 46 off four overs, while Saqlain was carted for 53.
Only Nasum, with two for 27, came away with credit.
After a historic win in the ODI series, the Tigers have lost the three-match T20I contest by a margin of 2-0. The two teams play each other again on Sunday in the final T20I in Chattogram.
