Darwin: Steve Smith dropped the simplest of outfield catches as Australia failed to bowl out Bangladesh before lunch on day three of the first Test, with the visitors stretching their lead to an enormous 219.
Travis Head also put down a catch, albeit a much tougher one, to enable Mehidy Hasan Miraz (65 not out) to prolong the innings. Australia have now dropped five catches in the innings.
Mehidy finished the session by hooking Cameron Green for a huge six to leave absolutely no doubt which side had dominated the morning.
“It’s very, very un-Australian, isn’t it?” said Alyssa Healy in the Fox Cricket commentary box. “We’ve seen catches go down. We’ve seen us out in the field for 128 overs. A lot of talking points that I think Australia seemingly have brought upon themselves.”
For Australia to somehow win the match they would need to overcome their biggest first innings deficit to do so โ it was previously 206 against Pakistan in Sydney in 2010.
Australia’s biggest first innings deficit overcome to win in all Tests was 291 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1992.
Pat Cummins’ team started out with plenty of intent to claim quick wickets, and a pair of victims for Josh Hazlewood took him to 299 Test wickets.
But Mehidy found a willing ally in senior fast bowler Taskin Ahmed (12 not out) and the pair put on an unbeaten 45 together to get the tourists to lunch.
Cummins tried pace and spin, short balls and full ones, but was unable to claim the last two wickets. It appeared inevitable that Cummins would claim at least one when Taskin tried a hook shit, but the chance swirled a little in the breeze and Smith spilled it, immediately showing his displeasure.
It was notable, too, for Australia that Lyon was unable to find a way to coax the Bangladesh lower order into errors. He was played with impressive restraint by Mehidy and Taskin, who maintained their teamโs strong resolve not to give the Australians anything easily.
More to come
Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.From our partners
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