The first test match between Australia and Bangladesh, which began in Darwin on Thursday (August 13), presented an unexpected picture. The strong Australian team faced serious difficulties against the fast bowlers of Bangladesh and was completely dismissed for only 198 runs.
In the match held at the Marara Cricket Ground stadium, Australia returned to Test cricket after approximately six months, but its return proved to be extremely unsuccessful. Bangladesh managed to break the attack of the Australian batsmen even before the appearance of express pacer Nahid Rana. Hasan Mahmud performed brilliantly, taking six wickets, and concluded two sessions for Australia significantly faster than planned.
In this confrontation, Bangladesh set a humiliating record in the history of Test cricket against Australia: for the first time, they dismissed the Australian team with a total score below 200 runs in a single innings. Previously, the lowest score by Australia against Bangladesh was 217 runs, recorded in a match in Mirpur in 2017, where Australia lost by 20 runs. In that match, Shakib Al Hasan not only took five wickets twice but also scored 84 runs. However, in Darwin, Bangladeshi bowlers surpassed him, restricting Australia to a modest 198 runs.
Australia started its innings well. At one point, the team's score without loss reached 45 runs. However, this was followed by a series of wickets falling, which led to the complete collapse of the entire innings. Hasan Mahmud, in his long opening spell, dismissed Jack Wade, delivering the first blow to Australia. In the very next over, he sent Travis Head to the stands. Steve Smith managed to avoid an early dismissal as he was caught while scoring only two runs. Despite this respite, the other Australian batsmen could not withstand the attack of the Bangladeshi bowlers. Marnus Labuschagne continued his poor run and was dismissed for a single-digit score by Ibadat Hossain. Following him, Cameron Green also failed to perform brightly and became a victim of Taskin Ahmed.
Soon, Australia transitioned from 45/0 to 74/4. Steve Smith remained at one end while other batsmen came and went, taking responsibility for stabilizing the innings. Alex Carey showed good strokes early on but could not turn his innings into a big one and was bowled by Hossain. Smith continued to hold his ground at one end, but wickets kept falling at the other end. Hugh Webster was also bowled by Taskin Ahmed. Then Hasan Mahmud completed the task of eliminating the lower order and tailenders of Australia. It was during this process that he took the wicket of Steve Smith, ending Australia's innings. Steve Smith was the most successful batsman for Australia, scoring 71 runs off 109 balls, including seven fours and one six. No other batsman managed to score a half-century.
The main hero of this magnificent game for Bangladesh was Hasan Mahmud. The young fast bowler took six wickets for only 53 runs. Thanks to this performance, Mahmud wrote history: he became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take six wickets in a single innings against Australia, regardless of whether the match was played in Bangladesh or Australia. The statistic of 6/53 in the history of Australia-Bangladesh matches is the third-best bowling figure. Even without Nahid Rana, the Bangladesh press-attack greatly troubled Australia, demonstrating the depth of their bowling attack.
Hasan Mahmud's performance of taking six wickets was special for this pitch in Darwin. He became the fourth fast bowler to take five or more wickets in a single innings at this venue. The best bowling performance at this venue belongs to Michael Kasprowicz, who took seven wickets for 39 runs against Sri Lanka in July 2004. In the same match, Chaminda Vaas from Sri Lanka also took five wickets. Furthermore, Glenn McGrath also achieved a feat by taking five wickets in a single innings in Darwin. Now, Hasan Mahmud's name has been added to this special list.
After Australia's first innings ended for just 198 runs, Bangladesh gained a superior position in the match. The Australian team, returning to Test cricket after six months, looked completely helpless against the Bangladeshi press-attacks, which was the complete opposite of the expected style of play.
