BAN v AUS, 1st Test, Day 1 Review: Australia draws first blood against Bangladesh

There were talks within the Bangladesh camp regarding them whitewashing the series against the Aussies in the 2-Test match affair. Although, after witnessing the proceedings after the end of the first day of the first Test match at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium Dhaka, one might think it was a statement made out of over enthusiasm. Australia proved their class on the field and let the ball do the talking.

After winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim had no hesitation to bat first and received three quick blows up front. The top order of Bangladesh had no answer to the pace and bounce of Pat Cummins. Bangladeshi talismanic batsmen Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan responded perfectly under pressure.

However, the two batsmen soon fell prey to penetrative line and lengths from the Aussies and the rest of the batting order did not offer much resistance to the visitors. It was the spin attack which caused the mayhem down the order. Bangladesh ended up with 260 on the board in the first innings.

Looking at the state of the wicket at stumps on Day 1, one might think that Bangladesh has just enough on the board to challenge Australia, who have a reputation of being iffy on rank turners. The last eight overs of the day remained the highlight of the day with Australia losing three wickets already, creating panic in their dressing room.

Three wickets by Pat Cummins up front

Steve Smith started out with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with the new ball while entrusting the spin department with the likes of Ashton Agar, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell. Pat Cummins wasted no time and removed Soumya Sarkar in his very first over. Sarkar poked at an angling ball and handed an easy catch to Handscomb placed at Gully.

In the fifth ball of very next over, he removed Imrul Kayes with a peach of a delivery which the left hander edged to the wicket keeper Matthew Wade. He then dismissed Sabbir Rehaman the first ball he faced as he nicked one to the keeper. His review appeal was overruled as replays clearly showed that he edged the ball. Bangladesh was reduced to 10 for the loss of three wickets by the end of four overs. This spell from Cummins silenced one and all in the stadium.

Tamim-Shakib Partnership

After the horrible start from the home side, the onus was then on the two stalwarts of Bangladesh Cricket by the names of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. The two southpaws first ensured that there were no further scares in the Bangladesh camp and saw the new ball off in the overcast condition. Shakib Al Hasan played his natural counter-attacking game as Tamim Iqbal consolidated the proceedings until lunch.

Tamim Iqbal’s game started to bloom post Lunch as the bearing started to come of the bowling attack of the Aussies. Both were set to score their respective Test tons but it was the part-timer Glenn Maxwell who broke the promising partnership. Shortly after, Shakib joined Tamim in the dressing room.

However, their 155 run partnership helped them post a total of some respectability in the end. Tamim scored an inning of 71, which consisted of five boundaries and three sixes whereas Shakib constructed a counter attacking of 84 at a strike rate of 61, which consisted of 11 elegant boundaries.

Hosts entangle in Aussie spin web

Australians at one point of time ran out of ideas to end the partnership between the two left handers. Maxwell, for the nth time in his career, broke a crucial partnership with his part time off spin and the like of Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon made full use of the opportunity. Lyon took the prized scalp of Shakib shortly after Maxwell’s wicket and it went downhill for the hosts from there.

Ashton Agar picked up the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and Nassir Hossain as soon as they started to flex their muscles. Lyon dismissed Mehedi Hasan for 18 in the interim. In the end, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar all claimed three wickets each while Josh Hazlewood remained wicketless in the innings.

Scare before Stumps for Australia

As Bangladesh was dismissed for 260, Australia had to see through the remainder of the overs of the day by protecting their 10 wickets and start afresh on Day 2. However, it was not to be as Australia lost two top order batsmen and a night watchman to create panic within the dressing room.

Shiaful Islam, Mehedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan continuously applied pressure to the Australian batsman who appeared nervous. Warner’s horrid form in the subcontinent continued as he was trapped in front by Hasan. The pressure applied on the visitors reaped rewards as Khawaja was dismissed by a run out. Shakib Al Hasan ended the eventful day by removing the nightwatchman Lyon out of the equation

Brief Scores

Bangladesh 260 allout in 78.5 over (Shakib 84, Tamim 71, Lyon 79/3)

Australia 18/3 (Renshaw 6*, Smith 3*, Shakib 3/1)