Key events
128th over: Bangladesh 398-8 (Miraz 52, Taskin 6) Nathan Lyon enters his 28th over with the humbling figures of 1-93. He delivers a maiden but with Bangladesh 200 ahead and about to hit 400, Australia are looking increasingly downcast.
127th over: Bangladesh 398-8 (Miraz 52, Taskin 6) Cummins’ eighth spell of the innings continues. These are big overs for Australia’s bowlers and fatigue may come back to bite them. Taskin taps a single to prolong the pain and Miraz cuts deftly past gully to take Bangladesh’s lead to 200. What an effort this is by the No 9 Test nation in the world against the ICC champions.
126th over: Bangladesh 396-8 (Miraz 51, Taskin 5) Cries of “CATCHIT!” but Taskin’s wild slash has cleared the slips cordon and run away for four. After 13 balls in half-an-hour he’s finally off the mark. He celebrates by taking Starc’s 143.4kph whizzer off his toes for a single. Australia spread the field for Miraz but he times a fuller ball beautifully to steal two runs down the ground. That’s a very valuable half century by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Summary
125th over: Bangladesh 388-8 (Miraz 49, Taskin 0) Pat Cummins takes the ball back in a bid to capture these final two wickets and keep Bangladesh’s lead under 200. Instead, he oversteps and Miraz steps back to dink him over gully for two runs. It takes the lead to 185. Cummins’ sixth ball is a wide. His seventh is a long way outside off stump and Miraz feasts, swinging hard and smashing it high and long over point for a FOUR.
124th over: Bangladesh 380-8 (Miraz 43, Taskin 0) Taskin still can’t get off the mark. He steps out to cover drive Lyon but a brilliant dive by the fielder saves the runs and turns the screws. It’s a maiden.
123rd over: Bangladesh 380-8 (Miraz 43, Taskin 0) After a quick drink break to combat the 30+ heat, Starc returns. Miraz steps back to give himself room to go over the top but Starc blazes it past the edge. Now there’s a half-hearted appeal down the leg side as Miraz prods at a ball on his hip. Starc is confident enough so Cummins will review. But there’s a gap between bat and ball so Australia’s final review goes up in smoke.
122nd over: Bangladesh 380-8 (Miraz 43, Taskin 0) Pat Cummins says: ‘Come in spinner!’ and throws Nathan Lyon into the fray. The GOAT starts day three with 1-92 from 26 overs so far. Miraz is protecting his partner from the strike but he clips one off his pads from the fifth to take Bangladesh’s lead to 182.
121st over: Bangladesh 379-8 (Miraz 42, Taskin 0) The Darwin locals are drifting into the Marrara Cricket Ground and the Rioli grandstand is starting to bubble away nicely. As the Top End’s mercury starts to rise so does Mitchell Starc’s speed. He hits 140.2kph with his third delivery as Mehidy Miraz backs away and cuts to deep point without a run. Next ball is even faster at 140.7kph. Starc puts his last ball way down legside to get taskin on strike but Miraz is good enough to get a toe end of his bat on it and run a single to fine leg.
120th over: Bangladesh 378-8 (Miraz 41, Taskin 0) Hazlewood returns, looking for yet another five-for. Instead, Mehidy Miraz pulls hard and catches a big top edge which flies over Alex Carey for a boundary. He adds a single from the fifth with a lovely late cut. Bangladesh now lead by 180 runs.
119th over: Bangladesh 373-8 (Miraz 36, Taskin 0) Taskin Ahmed is the new batter. The 31-year-old paceman is in his 20th Test and averaging a tick over 11 with a highest score of 75. That record is not enough to earn a look at Mitchell Starc as Miraz turns down an easy single on the first ball to shield his partner. Now he takes the run and Taskin survives the last two deliveries.
WICKET! Taijul c Green b Hazlewood 17 (372-8)
Green catches that one and Hazlewood has his fourth wicket! Taijul’s brief but entertaining innings ends and suddenly Australia look a chance to finish their foes before they hit 400.
118th over: Bangladesh 372-7 (Miraz 35, Taijul 17) Bang! Taijul has lifted the first ball of Hazlewood’s 24th over off his pads and over the fence for SIX. That’s Bangladesh’s third maximum for the innings as this rearguard action extends the lead to 174.
117th over: Bangladesh 366-7 (Miraz 35, Taijul 11) Mitchell Starc swaggers into the attack. He has 2-68 from his 21 overs so far. Taijul slashes hard and square but can’t pierce the field. In fact, Marnus Labuschagne has his arm aloft and appears to be claiming a catch. Starc just laughs and goes back to his mark but the umpires will check. Sure enough, replays show the balls smashed straight into the turf off the bat. Starc stifles his smirk and turns it into a snarl as he crashes a rising ball into Mehidy’s gloves. Ouch!
116th over: Bangladesh 365-7 (Miraz 35, Taijul 10) This Bangladesh innings has now lasted longer than any of England’s innings in the Ashes series last summer. Extraordinary. And now Taijul lashes Hazlewood’s first ball through the covers for three. The 34-year-old has 10 runs from his 11 deliveries so far. Quite the statement of intent. Miraz tries to heave hook the last ball of the over out into the Marrara’s back-blocks but misses.
115th over: Bangladesh 360-7 (Miraz 34, Taijul 6) Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is the new batter for Bangladesh. He snuck a single from Hazlewood’s final ball to keep strike and now the 60-Test veteran faces Pat Cummins… and flays Australia’s captain to the boundary! Lovely cut shot for a tailender averaging just over 10. Taijul taps a single from the last.
WICKET! Mahmud lbw Hazlewood 14 (Bangladesh 354-7)
Australia strike and it’s Josh Hazlewood doing the job with a beautiful seaming delivery that caught Mahmud on a leg stump line. That’s the breakthrough. Can the home side go on with it?
114th over: Bangladesh 354-6 (Miraz 33, Mahmud 14) There’s a lot of cameras trained on Australian allrounder Cameron Green today. He finished day two with a dropped catch from the last ball of the day to cap off a calamitous afternoon for his side. Hazlewood follows four dots with a ducking ball that thunders into Mahmud’s pads. Umpire says OUT! DRS says…
113th over: Bangladesh 354-6 (Miraz 34, Mahmud 14) Bangladesh now lead by 154 runs as Cummins enters his 22nd over. Mahmud plays a straight bat to the first one and ducks the second. The allrounder only has 13 runs but he’s lasted 80+ balls and for a 26-year-old in his 16th Test, this shapes as a career-defining innings. He adds another run to his tally.
112th over: Bangladesh 352-6 (Miraz 33, Mahmud 13) Josh Hazlewood will partner his captain with the opening spells of day three. The Bendemeer Bullet has been the pick of the bowlers so far with 2-68 from his 20 overs. Today he starts by sliding one past the shoulder of Mehidy’s bat. Gorgeous ball. And now Hazlewood goes one better, catching the inside pad. A huge appeal for LBW. Umpire says OUT but Bangladesh will go to the skies for a second opinion… NOT OUT! It seamed too far in the end, just missing leg stump. Early disappointment for the home side but that movement offers encouragement. Mehidy sneaks a single but a strong start by Australia’s pacemen.
111th over: Bangladesh 351-6 (Miraz 32, Mahmud 13) Pat Cummins has the ball for the first over. He starts the day with 1-50. Today represents one of the biggest challenges of his captaincy career but he is right on target so far and his third ball is a 132kph pearl, straight as an arrow and beating Mahmud all ends up. It’s a maiden.
Jack Weatherald’s mum is on the TV talking about her son’s early days in Darwin and outing her son as an avowed naturist (at least in childhood). Her boy got himself into the 20s yet again on Day One, looking good without kicking on. The nuggety opener is now averaging just 22 from his first six Tests and is yet to better the 72 he slashed at the Gabba last summer. With a host of young pups knocking on the door, the almost 32-year-old desperately needs a big score today.
For now, it’s Bangladesh with the bat. Here they come now …
This Darwin wicket has been a bit of a surprise packet but many pundits are picking today as the best day for batting. If that prediction bears out, will the visitors cash in by extending their lead or will the Australians make hay when it’s their time to bat?
With a long hot summer predicted for Australia, the UK’s drought-affected venues could be a taste of what’s to come.
As Australia faces the heat here in Darwin, England’s cricketers are in a heatwave of their own, with returning captain Joe Root about to kick off their post-Bazball future next week with a three-Test series against Pakistan.
For those who came in late, here’s a wrap of Day Two…
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Greetings cricket lovers. Welcome to day three of the first Test between Australia and Bangladesh in Darwin. And what a fascinating day it promises to be. The boys in the baggy green caps are on the ropes and looking increasingly rattled, as Bangladesh push hard for a historic first victory in Australia.
The Tigers are now a whopping 153 runs ahead with four wickets still in hand after 25-year-old Tanzid Hasan Tamim clobbered a majestic 101 from 197 balls to become the first Bangladesh player to notch a ton on Australian soil. He was given plenty of help by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (84), Mominul Haque (49) and Mushfiqur Rahim (36) as the visitors surged to an imperious 351 for 6 at stumps.
Australia endured a torrid day in the Darwin heat, dropping yet more catches and watching their legendary pace cartel spanked to all corners of the Marrara Cricket Ground. As the visitors cantered to their commanding lead, the home side’s fears and frustrations bubbled over, with Mitchell Starc involved in a final-hour confrontation with Mehidy Hasan Miraz after the two almost collided mid-pitch during a quick single. Umpires had to step in as Starc snarled “Get off the wicket!” to his rival.
The tantrum was just another sign of the deep trouble Australia find themselves in. Pat Cummins’ men have been thoroughly outplayed in this Test. First, they were humiliated with the bat as young Hasan Mahmud tore through them with 6 for 55 to send them packing for a feeble first-innings total of 198. Yesterday they were given a lesson in Test batting as Bangladesh powered into ascendancy with soft hands and quick runs, showing batting technique and match tactics their esteemed rivals should envy.
Today brings a reckoning for Australia’s XI. Careers hang in the balance with the underperforming Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green all needing runs or face the axe. Can Postman Pat and his wrecking crew bowling squad crash through the Tigers’ tail and keep the visitors under a lead of 200? And if so, will the home side’s brittle top order step up with the same smart and mature batting their opposition have shown? Either way, today is moving day and history beckons.
First ball is at 10am ACST / 10.30am AEST so batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up because this could be a monumental day of Test cricket.
