Bangladesh beat Australia by nine wickets to secure first Test win on Australian soil
On Sunday, August 16, Bangladesh defeated Australia by nine wickets in the first Test to register their first-ever Test victory on Australian soil.
The tourists returned to Australia for the first time in 23 years and captain Najmul Shanto described the result in post-match comments as the high point of Bangladesh cricket. "I think this is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh cricket in any format. We believe that and going forward we will do something special in the future," Shanto said after the match. "I am extremely happy and proud of our boys," he added.
Bangladesh's triumph was built on a potent fast-bowling performance in Australia's first innings, with Hasan Mahmud, playing his first match Down Under, taking six wickets and dismantling the home batting line-up. Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain provided support, operating with persistent lines and lengths that troubled the Australian batsmen.
The win came despite the absence of Nahid Rana, who was unavailable due to injury, and Shanto pointed to a broader shift in Bangladesh's Test approach to pace bowling. "I think that is the biggest change in Bangladesh cricket in Test format. Normally, five, six years before, the pace bowlers didn't want to play Test cricket because we didn't get enough chance to play Test cricket. But the last two, three years we've been playing a lot of Test matches and boys are getting importance in the Test format. So they now want to play and they want to perform because they want to be world class. So that is the mindset they have there and especially the senior guys we have, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, they help them a lot to encourage to play Test cricket," Shanto added.
Shanto said the team will carry confidence into the remainder of the series and stressed the need for application over five days. "As I said before this Test match, we need to play five days of good cricket. So again, I am going to say the same thing, five days of cricket need to play properly. And then as we did this Test match, follow the process and play session by session. Bowlers did their job, batsmen chipped in and especially the lower middle order and the lower order, the way they batted. So those are the things we need to play in Mackay," Shanto concluded.
The series moves on to a second and final Test at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, a venue that has not yet staged a men's Test match; before departure Shanto warned Australia that Bangladesh are aiming for a clean sweep and said they know they can deliver it.
