Having selected their oldest team since the pre-Bradman era, Australia were for a second day running touched up by the sprightliest of their opponents as Bangladesh began to dream of one of cricket’s great turn-ups.
On the opening day of Darwin’s historic Test return, the home side were done over by 26-year-old Hasan Mahmud’s six wickets. On Friday, it was second-gamer Tanzid Hasan, the youngest player in this match at 25, who bashed Pat Cummins’ men into a growing hole.
Not even the most optimistic Bangladesh supporter would have predicted the commanding position they assumed at stumps on day two: the visitors ahead by 153 having so far amassed 6-351 their second best effort in 13 Test innings against Australia, with Hasan (13no) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (32no) to resume tomorrow on a now easy-paced Marrara pitch.
One of Australia’s roughest days in recent memory was capped when Cameron Green dropped Mehidy on the final ball of the day. It is unlikely the dismissal would have stood had the catch been held, with replays indicating Marnus Labuschagne had overstepped anyway.
Dropped twice in an innings that spanned more than five hours, Tanzid became the first Bangladeshi to score a ton outside Asia in four years and only the second from his country to reach triple-figures against Australia.
A white-ball regular, the left hander only made his Test debut in May. But he played like a 100-Test opener as he navigated Australia’s vaunted quicks’ early spells with care and then attacking when they bowled in his favoured zones.
He was ably backed up by captain Najmul Shanto (84 from 126 balls) in a 93-run third-wicket partnership with only a late burst from Australia’s tiring seamers saving their team from utter disaster in their first of 20 Tests over the next 12 months.
What may offer Cummins’ veteran group hope is that Bangladesh’s previous highest total against them – 427 in the 2006 Fatullah Test – preceded one of Australia’s greatest comeback wins. Led by centuries from Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, they overturned a 158-run first-innings deficit.
The Aussies have only won three times this century with a deficit more than that or the swelling one they find themselves with here.
In the Top End’s baking heat, signs of Australia’s frustration were apparent in the final half hour when Mitchell Starc, into his 21st over of the innings, lashed out at Mehidy for choosing to run down the pitch while avoiding the towering left-armer in his follow through.
All four of his Australia’s frontline bowlers had topped 20 overs by the close of play as Cummins cycled through eight different bowlers, including Labuschagne whose medium pace generated a rare opportunity when Green put down the final-ball chance.
Tanzid showed a masterful understanding of the extra bounce (at least compared to the Bangladesh pitches he has been brought up on) offered up by the first Australian pitch he has played on, leaving around 20 per cent of the 197 balls he faced.
While only 13 per cent of Australia’s deliveries were projected to hit Tanzid’s stumps, it seems likely Lyon’s opening-day dropped catch off Tanzid (when he was yet to score) will be a greater source of Australian regret given the fragility Bangladesh’s middle order showed against a new ball late on day two.
Josh Hazlewood, Starc and Cummins, who the visitors had handled comfortably when armed with the softer Kookaburra, combined to remove Bangladesh’s most experienced batting trio after Cummins gladly took the second new ball during the final session.
The tourists lost 3-11 as Shanto, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim all succumbed to the hard ball’s extra zip, each feeding Steve Smith at second slip, the last seeing him equal Joe Root’s record of 218 Test catches.
Australia’s hope the drop-in surface would offer that kind of assistance this morning when Bangladesh resumed the day on 1-96, trailing by 102, came with a noticeable commitment to driving their lengths further towards the diminutive visiting batters.
Although Australia did draw more than a dozen plays and misses in the first hour, Tanzid and Mominul Haque (49 off 95) stretched their second-wicket stand to 102 before Hazlewood found the latter’s outside edge.
With his opponents already rueing Lyon’s missed catch when he was yet to score, Tanzid was given another life on 62 as Steve Smith failed to grasp his edged cut that ballooned off Alex Carey’s gloves.
There were otherwise few missteps from the opener. He skipped down the track to Beau Webster to register an 88-metre six over long-off, but otherwise looked to attack only when Australia’s bowlers erred in length.
A sequence of pulls and cuts would have delighted his hero – Tamim Iqbal, the former Bangladesh captain – whose name adorns the back of his shirt. But not even Tamim, widely considered his country’s greatest batter, had ever had as significant a moment as Tanzid, whose beaming smile burned bright as he saluted in the piercing afternoon sunshine.
His subsequent attempt to smite Lyon proved one bold shot too many, Mitchell Starc completing a smart catch in the outfield, though Shanto was hardly cowed as he then creamed the off-spinner over long-on with an even more audacious blow.
Shanto indeed looked even more polished than his fellow southpaw, no doubt benefiting greatly from the top-order’s ability to put 40 overs of work into Australia’s bowlers before being summoned to the middle.
He took 10 off one of a wayward Green over, while the allrounder’s struggles continued with his final act of the day.
NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series
First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am (local)
Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
Bangladesh squad (first Test): Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan
