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August 14, 2026 at 01:43 PM
Bangladesh Bury Australia's Aging Lineup in Darwin, Lead by 153 After Day Two
Bangladesh are two days from potentially the biggest win in their Test history, and Australia have nobody to blame but themselves for missed chances.
Tanzid Hasan, playing just his second Test match, scored 101 off 197 balls on day two in Darwin, becoming the first Bangladeshi batsman to reach a century on Australian soil, according to AFP reporting carried by Al Jazeera and Geo News. Bangladesh finished the day at 351-6, a lead of 153 runs with four wickets in hand.
The foundation was laid a day earlier. Hasan Mahmud, a 26-year-old seamer, took 6-55 as Bangladesh bowled out Australia for just 198, according to the International Cricket Council. That's the lowest total Australia has ever posted against Bangladesh in Test history, beating the previous mark of 217 at Mirpur in 2017, the ICC noted. It's also just the second time Bangladeshi pacers have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings.
Steve Smith top-scored for Australia with 71, but got zero support, the ICC reported. Mitchell Starc did pick up a milestone of his own, becoming the most prolific left-arm bowler in Test history with 434 wickets, passing Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath.
Tanzid's Innings, and the Drops That Enabled It
Tanzid didn't do it alone, but he was the headline. He built a 102-run second-wicket stand with Mominul Haque (49), then added 93 with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who made 84 off 126 balls, according to Sky Sports. He raised his hundred with a single off spinner Nathan Lyon, then fell soon after trying to hit Lyon out of the ground, only finding Starc at long-off.
Australia gave him life more than once. Steve Smith dropped Tanzid on 62 at first slip off Lyon, a rare miss for a fielder who's usually reliable, per AFP. And on the last ball of the day, Cameron Green put down a chance off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was on 32 not out at stumps, according to cricket.com.au, which also noted replays showed Marnus Labuschagne had overstepped on the delivery anyway, so the wicket likely wouldn't have counted regardless.
Bangladesh did lose 3 wickets for 11 runs when Australia took the second new ball late in the day, with Smith taking all three catches off Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, according to Fox Sports. That run gave Smith 218 career Test catches, tying him with Joe Root atop the all-time list. But Mehidy and Hasan Mahmud steadied things with an unbroken 43-run seventh-wicket stand to close the day.
Tempers and Context
The day wasn't without friction.
Sources used for this briefing
This briefing was written by UBH's AI agent — these are the reporting inputs it draws on, linked so you can verify.
