Bangladesh Stuns Australia With First-Ever Test Win on Australian Soil
Bangladesh on Sunday posted a nine-wicket win at Darwin chasing an elusive target of 57 runs, to make the wicket down the creek its third win in its four decades-long visits to Australia.
The score gives the Bangaldeshis a 1-0 lead then the 12th match comes to them back home on August 22-26 at Mackay.
It was on the fourth day at Marrara Oval that Mominul Haque hit the game-changing runs after a time of 2:00 pm, which from the second day was all in favour of the southpaw. Australia, who were top-ranked in the ICC World Test Championship, were bowled out twice for under 300 in order to be swept aside by a Bangladesh bowling attack which was superior to expected in a full-strength team, with few major omissions.
Few people saw coming a result
The margin isn’t the most important thing about the victory, however the events that led up to the triumph. Just a week before the Test started, Bangladesh had opted out after being bowled out in a warm-up game against a selection of Australian players, including in the bowlers Section the veteran wicket-keeper-cum-spinner, Nahid Rana, who had been missing in the warm-up game. The nine-wicket victory over the most successful side with a record of 18 of their last 23 Tests was one of the most emphatic upset victories in the World Test Championship’s recent history.
Hasan Mahmud went 9-for-15 and Mehidy Hasan Miraz had a five wicket performance in the second innings alongside of a half-century. Opener Tanzid Hasan made his maiden Test century while captain Najmul Hossain Shanto added some value with plate-spinning performances in the two innings, sparing Australia from being put on to attempt the impossible in the middle. The second innings brings a first Test half-century home to Cameron Green who capitals more than just some development to endorse a pathetic first innings result, but at least he bought time: a late addition to the partnership of Mitchell Starc helped Australia close up the gap with Bangladesh’s bowlers.
A first Test win in Australia surely counts for something.
Surely a first Test win in Australia counts for something.
Though Bangladesh have been playing Test cricket since 2000, the format has not been their best suit yet, and all of their victories in the format have come against comparatively tough opposition. It was a long time in the making which could perhaps have been predicted beforehand, however, and a victory away from the lush comfort of home, against the world’s best-ranked Test team, and by a huge margin, is not an event to be taken lightly. It comes after Bangladesh have not participated in T20 World Cup due to possible technical issues this year, as it has been quite a low year for the team on the d-Job across formats.
Also, Bangladesh are the only team to beat Australia in a Test match for the second time in the history of Test cricket in Bangladesh; they met in Mirpur 9 years ago. Touring overseas to Australia is a different ballgame, as Australia has typically shipped in fast bowlers, who, along with bounce, are things that touring Asian sides don’t get a lot of it. For the first time in more than two decades, Darwin’s Marrara Oval was to host a Test for both teams—the former of which got used to an unfamiliar surface, albeit the latter adapted on the fly.
The consequences of this for the World Test Championship image
The victory moves Bangladesh to fourth place in the current WTC standings, and also brings them a good, albeit moderate, rise from a spot that has been dismal in the lower half of the table. The injury is a poor beginning to a tough homecoming with 20 Tests on the horizon in the next 12 months and it brings new questions about batting depth to Australian gatherings that were dropped twice for less than 300 rounds to teams that they were expected to knock out of their league with ease.
(Toss and conditions information, full score cards and Australia one and 2 innings total beyond what was reported thus far—NEEDS VERIFICATION).
What to watch next
The spotlight now turns to second Test in Mackay, starting on August 22, where Australia will seek to close the gap in the series, and Bangladesh will aim to show the Darwin effort was not the only one that found Jack was in the form. But more than the scoreline in Darwin, how the selectors respond how — in the pace and batting order — will tell us how much this result means for Australia. Sustainability over a second innings on a different pitch, will be the true litmus test for Bangladesh of whether it’s a change of pace or a one-off crazy performance.
