Hasan Mahmud’s career-best 6 for 55 bowls Australia out for 198, five days after Bangladesh made 54

Five days ago Bangladesh were bowled out for 54 in a warm-up game in Darwin and the tour looked like it might be over before it started. On Thursday they bowled Australia out for 198 at the same ground, and Hasan Mahmud has the best figures of his Test career.

Six for 55, and four of them caught behind

Mahmud finished with 6 for 55 from 17 overs, three of them maidens. He bowled Travis Head for 22, had Jake Weatherald caught behind for 23, and from there he kept coming back and kept getting rewarded. Litton Das took four catches off his bowling. Pat Cummins nicked him for 9, Mitchell Starc for 1, and Steven Smith, on 71 and the only Australian batter who looked settled all day, edged him to the keeper to end the innings’ one real partnership.

Nathan Lyon holed out to Tanzid Hasan for 7 to finish it, two runs short of 200, and that wicket gave Mahmud his sixth. His previous best in Test cricket was 5 for 43 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Taskin Ahmed took 2 for 55 and Ebadot Hossain 2 for 39, so the seamers took all ten between them on a pitch that Najmul Hossain Shanto had said before the match would reward bounce.

Smith batted, everyone else visited

Australia chose to bat and were 74 for 4 at lunch. Weatherald and Head put on 45 for the first wicket and then three wickets went down for 29 runs. Marnus Labuschagne faced 20 balls for 1. Cameron Green hit a six and was caught for 13.

Smith reached fifty off 76 balls and put on 55 with Alex Carey, which was the innings. After Carey was bowled by Ebadot for 19 the tail did what tails do against a bowling attack with its blood up, and Australia went from 129 for 5 to 198 all out. Nobody except Smith passed 23. Sixteen of the runs were extras.

It is the lowest total Australia have ever made against Bangladesh in a Test match, and this is only the seventh Test the two countries have played against each other.

Twenty-three years, and a ground that waited 22

This is Bangladesh’s first Test tour of Australia in 23 years. Darwin had not hosted a Test in 22. The last time these sides met in the format was Chattogram in 2017, and Australia won that one by seven wickets after Bangladesh had beaten them in Dhaka the week before, which remains the only time Bangladesh have won a Test against them.

Bangladesh had begun their reply as this was written, 8 without loss, Shadman Islam and Tanzid Hasan seeing off the opening overs from Starc and Josh Hazlewood. They trail by 190. The batting is the part of this team that has let them down all year, and 198 only becomes a good day if somebody makes runs against Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood on a surface that has already shown what it does for quick bowling.

Both Tests count towards the World Test Championship, with the second starting in Mackay on 22 August. Whatever happens from here, Bangladesh have already made this a harder week than Australia had planned for.

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