DARWIN, Australia – Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz has put Bangladesh on the brink of a landmark first Test victory over Australia, claiming three crucial morning wickets on Day 4 to leave the host nation 243-7 at lunch, still holding only a slender 15-run first innings lead.
Resuming their first innings at 161-4 on Sunday, Australia scrambled 82 runs through the opening session to avoid the embarrassment of an innings defeat inside two days on home soil. But the session, much like the three preceding days of the first match of the two-test “Top End” series, once again showcased Bangladesh’s dominance over the world’s top-ranked Test side, with the result only delayed rather than flipped in Australia’s favor.
All-rounder Cameron Green was the only Australian batter to offer sustained resistance against Bangladesh’s disciplined spin attack. Nailing his eighth Test half-century and posting his highest Test score on home soil, Green entered the lunch break unbeaten on 85, closing in on what would be his third Test century and first on Australian home grounds. Speedster Mitchell Starc held firm alongside him on 14 not out, with the pair building an unbeaten 36-run partnership for the eighth wicket that represents Australia’s last remaining chance to turn the match around.
Mehidy, who dragged the match firmly into Bangladesh’s control by dismissing Steve Smith on the evening of Day 3, picked up exactly where he left off on Sunday. He claimed his first wicket of the morning when wicketkeeper Litton Das pulled off a sharp catch behind the stumps to remove Alex Carey, who had scored 30.
The off-spinner followed that up with a spectacular delivery that straightened past Beau Webster’s bat, clipping the top of off stump to send Webster packing for 5. That wicket left Australia 193-6, still trailing Bangladesh’s first innings total by 35 runs with the lower order exposed.
Captain Pat Cummins’ time at the crease was cut short shortly after, when he popped a simple catch to Mehidy at short leg, handing the spinner his third wicket of the morning and fourth of the innings to move his figures to 4-50.
Green and Starc chipped away at Bangladesh’s lead in the final half hour before lunch, with Green looking increasingly settled at the crease. However, history is heavily stacked against Australia pulling off a miraculous comeback. The largest first-innings deficit Australia has ever overcome to claim a home Test win is 206 runs, achieved against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2010. Ahead of this lunch break, Australia’s first-innings deficit sat at 228 runs, a gap 22 runs wider than that historic comeback.
This opening Test kicks off a grueling 12-month schedule for the Australian men’s Test side, which will feature 20 matches across the coming year including away tours to South Africa, India and England.