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Australia's Cooper Connolly scored a match-winning 149 against Bangladesh in the third and final ODI of the series. Connolly's maiden hundred helped Australia register a one-wicket win in Dhaka, taking confidence into the three-T20I series. After the win, Connolly revealed that his body was in shock but he continued to march on in the run chase where the next best score by an Australian batter was 29 by Marnus Labuschagne.
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"Tough towards the end," he admitted. "I felt like my body was all in shock and not wanting to move. But it was nice to play a role in a win for Australia.
"The enjoyment of playing for Australia and batting out in the middle is always something that's exciting and to spend a bit of time out there was nice."
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A dramatic collapse after Connolly made the equation easy
In the 45th over, Connolly stepped on the pedal and hit Taskin Ahmed for three sixes in a row. Australia needed 11 runs from the next five overs but Bangladesh staged a dramatic comeback with left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam dismissing Oliver Peake and Xavier Bartlett was dismissed off consecutive deliveries. In his next over, he got rid of Ben Dwarshuis. Then, Connolly was knocked over by Mustafizur Rahman with four runs needed off nine balls. But, somehow Adam Zampa found a boundary and Australia stole a one-wicket victory with three balls to spare.
Connolly disappointed to not finish
The young opener was disappointed in itself for not carrying the bat and seeing the run chase through.
"I was obviously a little disappointed in myself because I'd done all the hard work to get to that position. It would have been nice to carry your bat through the whole innings," Connolly said.
"I think there's always faith in whoever's out there - whether it's No.10 and 11 - I'm always willing to back them in. The emotions were [I was] quite upset and disappointed in myself, but it was nice to get over the line," he added.
Connolly's 149-run knock from 134 balls featured 13 fours and six sixes. He will be seen in action on June 17 in the three-T20I series opener in Chattogram.
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