Bangladesh beat Australia by nine wickets in Darwin to pull off major Test upset
Bangladesh thrashed Australia by nine wickets on the fourth day of the first Test in Darwin to complete what the BBC described as one of Test cricket's greatest upsets, sealing victory when Mominul Haque cut Beau Webster to the boundary for the winning runs.
The win sparked jubilation among Bangladesh players and staff as they celebrated what captain Najmul Hossain Shanto called "arguably their greatest victory in 26 years of competing in Test cricket." Australia are the top-ranked Test nation, while Bangladesh had not played a five-day series in Australia since a 2-0 defeat in 2003. Speaking on ABC, commentator Jim Maxwell described the result as one of the most "embarrassing defeats that Australia have ever suffered in Test cricket."
Scoreline and match summary: Australia 198: (Smith 71; Mahmud 6-55) & 284 (Green 104; Miraz 5-66); Bangladesh 426: (Tanzid 101, Shanto 84, Miraz 65; Hazlewood 6-89) & 57-1 (Mominul 30*). Bangladesh won by nine wickets, and seamer Hasan Mahmud was named player of the match after taking nine wickets in the opening Test.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz produced key bowling and batting contributions across the match: he scored 65 on day three to help build Bangladesh's first-innings lead and then took 5-66 in Australia's second innings to help bowl them out for 284, leaving just 57 for victory. On day four Miraz had wicketkeeper Alex Carey caught behind for 30 and bowled all-rounder Beau Webster for five with two notable deliveries before dismissing captain Pat Cummins for eight.
Hasan Mahmud's seam bowling also proved decisive; he returned figures of 6-55 in Australia's first innings and 3-56 in the second. After Cameron Green was bowled by Hasan Mahmud, Australia's hopes of saving the Test were described in the report as all but disappearing, and Miraz later removed Nathan Lyon to further bring Bangladesh within sight of victory.
Cameron Green fought back with a century, making 104 in the second innings, his third Test hundred in his home country amid criticism of his place in the side, and he shared a defiant 43-run eighth-wicket partnership with Mitchell Starc. That stand ended when Taskin Ahmed had Starc caught behind for 18, a wicket that helped shift the match decisively in Bangladesh's favour.
Despite losing opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim for a duck to Josh Hazlewood in the second over of the chase, Mominul Haque's unbeaten 30 and Shadman Islam's 25 completed the run chase. "This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format," captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said. "Going forward we want to do something special in the future. I'm very happy, proud of myself and the way the boys played. We did a lot of hard work." The Test was the first of a two-match series, with the second beginning on 22 August (01:00 BST).
