Smith wicket sets the toneAustralia were under pressure after their mini collapse on day one. A lot was expected form overnight batsmen Matthew Renshaw and captain Steven Smith. Particularly Smith, who is currently the No 1 batsman in the world, according to the ICC Test ranking. But youngster Mehedi Hasan Miraz struck immediately in the third over of the day by claiming the vital wicket of Smith. The dismissal came in the last ball of the over. It was a flighted delivery from Miraz, in the trajectory of the middle and leg stump, Smith advanced, got to the pitch of the ball but rather inexplicably missed it as it hit the timber. It was a big moment of the innings as Bangladesh created more pressure straightaway at the beginning of the day’s play.Soumya’s lucky escapeSoumya Sarkar got out cheaply for eight in the first innings. There was a little bit pressure on him in the second innings. The left-hander started his innings with much more composure compared to the first innings. Bangladesh were cruising nicely in the second innings. Both the openers Soumya and Tamim Iqbal batted confidently and were heading towards a flawless session. But suddenly, a mad looking shot from Soumya ended his promising innings and Bangladesh had to face a nervous few overs at the end. The way Soumya got out was really shocking as he charged down the ground against spinner Ashton Agar in the 21st over and lofted a shot over mid on. Australia’s Usman Khawaja did fumble a few times but caught it in the end. Soumya was lucky just two overs ago against off-spinner Nathan Lyon when his defensive shot saw the ball roll back to the stumps. The stumps were touched slightly but the bails did not drop. But Soumya did not capitalise from that touch of fortune. In Test cricket, getting out in that fashion, particularly when two overs are still remaining, is not really mature stuff.Fizz checks the runsPacer Mustafizur Rahman was one of the main threats stated by Australia prior to the start of the Test match. The left-arm paceman hasn’t picked up any wicket so far but bowled well in good channels. He bowled two crucial spells in the innings. Australia formed a slight resistance after Smith fell early in the day. Renshaw and Peter Handscomb formed a valuable 69-run partnership for the fifth wicket. After Renshaw got out, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell came in. At that stage, Mustafizur came on to bowl his first spell and bowled accurately. In his first spell, he bowled five overs and gave away only seven runs, including two maidens. In the second spell, he also bowled in a good trajectory and did not give any room to the batsmen to score. Although he did not get any wicket, his bowling figure - 8-13-0-0 - indicates that he maintained pressure from one side, which helped the other bowlers to claim wickets at the right moment of the game.Shafiul’s dropped catch proves to be costlyAustralia were wobbling at one stage, having lost their eighth wicket for 144. From there, No 9 batsman Pat Cummins and Agar formed a valuable 49-run stand which helped Australia get close to Bangladesh’s total. But that vital partnership could have been broken earlier if Shafiul Islam did not miss a relatively easy catch of Cummins off all-rounder Shakib al Hasan’s bowling. The incident happened in the last ball of the 54th over when the scoreboard read 166. Finally, the partnership was broken on 193 after the addition of 27 more valuable runs. The missed chance cost the Tigers 27 runs which can prove to be costly in the context of the game.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
