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Although Australia might have lost the ODI series to Bangladesh already, but the young batter Cooper Connolly certainly gave the visiting team much to cheer about in the third and final encounter in Dhaka.

 

Chasing Bangladesh's 274/5 for victory, the young Australian made a mature and calm century on his way to his first ODI hundred. The left-hander brought up his three-figure score in style and guided Australia to a commanding position in the run chase.

 

Connolly's innings, which was laced with fours and sixes, saw the young Australian combine aggression and sensible shot-making as Australia got their run chase to an early shaky start.

 

At the time of writing, the score was 185/4 in 32 overs with just 90 needed for Australia, and plenty of batting left to follow him.

 

Connolly Delivers in a Dead Rubber

 

Having already lost the series after losing first two matches to Bangladesh, the visitors went into the game knowing they could only play for pride. But that was not the case in the third ODI with the visiting Australians looking the more intent side, chiefly because of Connolly's blistering knock.

 

The Australian run chase did not get off to the best of starts, with skipper Josh Inglis making a brisk 21 but falling to Shoriful Islam with Matt Renshaw notching a duck two balls later and putting Australia under early pressure.

 

Alex Carey could not make any real impact on the game, but the left-handed Connolly stood firm. He went on to put useful partnerships with Marnus Labuschagne and later Cameron Green as the target steadily came closer.

 

The hundred was brought up as Connolly pushed Tanvir Islam down to long off for a single.

 

The Australian dressing room erupted and applauded as Connolly removed his helmet and showed his appreciation for the maiden hundred.

 

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Young Australian Joins Ponting And Smith In Record Books

 

The milestone hundred was significant because it placed Connolly among some of Australia's greatest ever batters.

 

At 22 years and 296 days, Connolly became the third youngest Australian to score an ODI century in the last 22 years:

 

Youngest Australians to score an ODI century

 

• Ricky Ponting vs Sri Lanka, Melbourne (9 Jan 1996) - 21y 21d
• Steve Barry Smith vs New Zealand, Melbourne (13 Feb 1983) - 21y 118d
• Cooper Connolly vs Bangladesh, Dhaka (14 June 2026) - 22y 296d

 

Earlier in the match, Bangladesh scored 274/5 as Towhid Hridoy (83), Litton Das (58) and Mosaddek Hossain (56) scored fifties. Matt Renshaw impressed with the ball picking up two wickets along with Xavier Bartlett who took two wickets as well.

 

But today was about the young Australian who picked up a stunning century, an innings that showcased his talent and staked his claim for a longer spell in Australia's ODI setup.