How fitting it was against the world's best team in both forms of the game that the Habibul Bashar's wounded warriors, bombarded by negative criticism from well-known figures within the sport, decided it was time to show they were not 'paper tigers'.

The five-wicket victory at Sophia Gardens will certainly be analysed and discussed by the experts of shades of opinion but the bottom line is: just as in life in sport too one should take nothing for granted. Australia may be going through a rough patch on their Ashes tour but come on, losing to Bangladesh was never part of the script.

A study of the two teams showed what a mismatch was in store. Australia, a side packed with weapons of mass destruction (sorry for the pun!) was taking on the bottom-ranked country in the latest ICC official rankings, which till date had only played 107 matches and scored just nine victories whereas the Aussies had accumulated 590 games with 358 wins since the birth of one-day cricket. While commentators in Australia expected the Ponting's Gold and Greens to win the 50-over contest virtually blindfolded, what happened is history now.

Ironically, the beneficiaries of the giant-killing act are England. Seeing how Bangladesh exposed chinks in their fierce rivals' armour, the other co-founders of the gentleman's game will now be relishing the prospect of reclaiming the tiny urn, which they last won in 1986 under the leadership of Mike Gatting.

Without a doubt 2005 just gets better and better. Just ask Liverpool.