5 worst defeats for Australia in ODIs

#3 5 wicket loss to Bangladesh in NatWest Series at Cardiff, 2005

Mohammad Ashraful celebrates his century as Ricky Ponting looks on grimly.

Unlike the defeats described earlier, this particular defeat came about when Australia had the best ODI team in the world and the fact that they were humbled by Bangladesh, makes it such a remarkable event. Having chosen to bat first, Australia lost Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting with 9 runs on the board and from then on, it was a struggle. Thanks to a 77 from Damien Martyn and 54 from Michael Clarke, they eventually reached 249 in 50 overs.

Anyone would have thought that the score would be enough for a bowling attack comprising of Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Glenn McGrath. It looked to be going that way after Bangladesh had been reduced to 51 for 2 in 15.4 overs but then Mohammad Ashraful played memorable innings to turn the tables. He made exactly 100 off 101 balls and hit 11 fours to get Bangladesh back into the game. He got out but the lower middle-order ensured that they ended up the world champions an embarrassing defeat at Cardiff that day.