Bangladesh claims first win in Australia with 9-wicket victory in 1st Test
Bangladesh completed a stunning nine-wicket victory over Australia in the first test on Sunday, securing its first win on Australian soil and only its second victory over top-ranked Australia.
After making a vital half-century with the bat, Mehidy Hasan Miraz took five wickets for Bangladesh in the second innings to restrict Australia to a lead of just 56 runs, as the hosts were bowled out for 284 midways through the afternoon session at Darwin’s Marrara Oval.
Bangladesh suffered some early nerves in its chase when Josh Hazlewood (1-5) dismissed first-innings centurion Tanzid Hasan for a duck, but Shadman Islam (25 not out) and Mominul Haque (30 not out) held their composure to reach the target in 14.2 overs sparking wild celebrations within the contingent of Bangladesh fans seated behind the team’s dugout on the boundary.
“This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said. “We will do something special in the future.”
The victory was celebrated back home, too, with Shanto taking a congratulatory video call from Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the dressing room.
“These are special moments for us, as I believe everyone back home is enjoying our success,” Shanto said in comments on the espncricinfo website. “We get these moments very few times in our life, so we should spend the whole day in celebrating this win.”
Cameron Green scored his third test century, and his first in Australia, making a composed 104 from 201 balls to lead Australia’s resistance.
It was a thoroughly deserved result for Bangladesh, which had outplayed Australia for much of the test after home captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat. Australia managed just 198 in its first innings, with man-of-the-match Hasan Mahmud taking 6-55, before Bangladesh capitalized as the pitch flattened to post 426 and take a commanding 228-run lead.
That advantage ultimately proved too much for Australia to overcome, despite Green’s breakthrough century, as Bangladesh secured a historic victory, and only its second against Australia after its maiden win in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2017.
For Australia, the defeat will rank as one of its most humiliating home reverses in its 149-year test history with considerable pressure now on the team’s selectors to make changes ahead of the second test in Mackay, Queensland state, starting Aug. 22.
“I think every time there’s a game like this, you always look at your match-ups and your make-up with the team for the next one,” Cummins said. “We’re pretty good at bouncing back, so no doubt the batters and every group will get together and have a good think about this one and where we can improve.”
With the door still ajar for Australia at 161-4 at the start of Day 4 with Green and Alex Carey at the crease, Mehidy (5-66) firmly closed it with a superb spell either side of lunch to claim four more wickets, to accompany the huge wicket of Steve Smith late on Day 3 to turn the match decisively for Bangladesh.
The off-spinner picked up Alex Carey (30) with the wicketkeeper batter expertly caught behind by his counterpart, Litton Das.
