Marnus Labuschagne dropped down the order as Aussies bank on speedster who was only added to ODI squad 15 minutes before the toss
Riley Meredith has earned a surprise recall for his first ODI in five years as Australia responded to their defeat to Bangladesh on Tuesday by bolstering their pace stocks for the must-win contest 48 hours later.
Captain Josh Inglis won the toss and elected to bat first on Thursday on another steamy morning in Mirpur as the Aussies cut Liam Scott for the second ODI after the allrounder made his debut in the series opener on Tuesday, a 86-run DLS win for the hosts.
Bangladesh XI: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Kumer Das (wk), Tawhid Hridoy, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (c), Tanvir Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana
Australia XI: Matt Short, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (c/wk), Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Riley Meredith
Marnus Labuschagne has been listed to bat at No.7 on Australia’s team sheet after a rough run in recent ODIs, with Matt Renshaw listed at four.
Meredith, whose only previous ODI appearance came on a 2021 COVID-hit tour of the Caribbean, was told yesterday he would be playing today. But the move was a surprise given he was only formally added to Australia’s ODI squad 15 minutes before Thursday’s toss.
The 29-year-old had however been picked for the preceding ODI series in Pakistan and the ensuing T20Is against Bangladesh, and remained with the white-ball squad in Dhaka as a reserve.
He has jumped Ben Dwarshuis to join Nathan Ellis and Xavier Bartlett in the seam attack for Australia, who are otherwise unchanged.
Australia only picked two frontline seamers for the first ODI, relying on allrounders Scott and Cameron Green on a bouncy surface.
But after Nahid Rana roughed up the visitors, their selection of a bowler who can hit speeds around the 150kph mark will see them fight fire with fire with the series on the line.
Inglis called out Meredith’s “extra ball speed” as the reason for his inclusion: “We’ve seen good pace and bounce in the wicket the other day, so I think Riley can give us that.”
The stand-in skipper said Australia needed to improve on “all three facets” of their game after their first ODI defeat to Bangladesh since 2005.
“We’re really looking forward to the opportunity today to put that right,” he said.
Meredith has played just one game for Australia in the past five years, a September 2024 T20I against Scotland.
He has battled injuries at times in the intervening years but has been a standout in the KFC BBL for the Hobart Hurricanes and also in short-form competitions in the UK.
Scott made 2 from 4 balls batting at eight in the first ODI and took 2-57 bowling first change, while dropping a difficult diving chance on the cover boundary.
Ellis was Australia’s standout player in the first ODI, returning figures of 3-38 after bowling skilfully with both new and old ball, while Green (52no) and Alex Carey (47) did best in their reply of 9-191 chasing 285.
Qantas Tour of Bangladesh 2026
Australia squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Josh Inglis (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Todd Murphy, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Adam Zampa
June 9: First ODI: Bangladesh won by 86 runs (DLS Method)
June 11: Second ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST
June 14: Third ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST
Australia squad for Bangladesh T20Is: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket
