Bangladesh stunned Australia on the opening day of the first Test, with seamer Hasan Mahmud emerging as the hero for the visitors.
Thursday’s play flipped the script as Bangladesh savoured their first taste of Test cricket in Australia in 23 years by bowling out the hosts, who are also the world’s top-ranked Test side, for less than 200. And their dominance with the ball was transferred successfully into their batters as Bangladesh ended Day I with a hugely impressive score of 96/1.
Mahmud’s 6/55 at Marrara Oval helped rout Pat Cummins’s team for 198, their lowest innings total in seven tests against the South Asian side.
Mahmud’s haul was the third-best in Tests by a Bangladesh quick and included the prized wicket of Steve Smith for 71 before Tea.
“Yeah, not our best. Still plenty of cricket to be played, obviously,” said Smith, who was dropped in the slips on 2.
Mahmud, who hails from the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, cashed in on his impeccable control. He kept pitching the ball in the right areas and that lured the Australian batters into playing the wrong shots. Besides Smith, the 26-year-old also took the scalps of Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon.
While Mahmud became the first Bangladeshi to take five wickets in a Test in Australia, overall this was the third time that the pacer had a five-wicket haul in his career of 15 Tests. In 2024, he had taken five wickets in the Chennai Test against India.
Mahmud also has County experience, having turned out for Kent earlier this year.
Given how they were skittled out for just 54 in the warm-up match preceding this Test, this was certainly a commendable performance from Bangladesh. If they can hold on to post a formidable first-innings total, they can surely put pressure on the Aussies.