Hasan Mahmud 6-55 bowls Australia out for 198 in Top End Test in Darwin

Hasan Mahmud took a career-best haul of 6-55 to bowl out Australia for 198 on the opening day of the Top End Test against Bangladesh in Darwin on August 13, 2026. Steve Smith top-scored for Australia with a defiant 71.

Pat Cummins won the toss for Australia and elected to bat, and the hosts raced to 45 without loss on a green-tinged wicket before Bangladesh's pacemen tightened the contest. Taskin Ahmed finished with 2-55 and Ebadot Hossain with 2-39 as Bangladesh dominated the first two sessions. The match was Bangladesh's first Test in Australia since 2003, and a partisan Darwin crowd backed local opener Jake Weatherald.

Hasan struck in his sixth and seventh overs to remove openers Jake Weatherald (23) and Travis Head (22), as Australia slipped to 52-2. Darwin-born Weatherald never settled and "needlessly swiped at a widish ball from Hasan," which accounted for his wicket. The early breakthroughs set the tone for Bangladesh's bowlers in the morning session.

Ebadot had Marnus Labuschagne (1) caught by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and could have dismissed Steve Smith earlier but for a dropped chance at third slip. All-rounder Cameron Green was dismissed for 13 immediately before lunch, leaving Australia 74-4. Bangladesh's attack applied sustained pressure across the opening spells.

After the interval Ebadot dismissed Alex Carey for 19 and Taskin removed Beau Webster for 12. Pat Cummins (9) and Mitchell Starc (1) both nicked off to Hasan before the tea interval, compiling a sequence of wickets that prevented any substantial recovery. The mid-afternoon session further eroded Australia's batting depth.

Smith was the next-to-last wicket to fall, advancing at Hasan and top-edging a high catch to wicketkeeper Litton Das to end a 109-ball innings that contained seven boundaries and a six, which gave Hasan his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Hasan then trapped Nathan Lyon (7) as the final wicket, with the Australian innings concluding in 53 overs.

The two-Test Top End series begins a heavy 12-month schedule for Australia that will feature 20 Test matches, including tours to South Africa, India and England.