Bangladesh sent shockwaves around the cricket world with their stunning nine-wicket win over Australia. While they have had some memorable wins over teams far more succesfull than them in this century in other formats, former India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri has said that this will rank above them all as it came in “the purest form” of the game.
“This will be remembered more than any of Bangladesh’s wins in colours. Men in White win because it’s the purest form. Well done!” said Shastri in a post on X on Monday. This is Bangladesh’s first Test series in Australia in 23 years and they came into the match with questions hanging on whether they can compete at all after suffering an innings defeat to a Cricket Australia XI in the warm-up match. However, they ended up dominating Australia all the way through in Darwin and won the match by a whopping nine wickets.
Fast bowler Hasan Mahmud was their star, leading the way in Bangladesh bundling Australia out for 198 runs in the first innings with figures of 2/55 in 16 overs. He then took three wickets in Australia’s second innings while spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz took five. Tanzid Hasan also stood out with 101 off 197 balls in Bangladesh’s first innings which helped them set a score of 426. He was then gone for a duck in the second but Shadman Islam and Bangladesh’s Test batting mainstay Mominul Haque saw them over the line chasing a target of 57 runs.
Bangladesh have thus won a Test in Australia after just three attempts, which is the fastest for any Asian side. Pakistan took seven Tests to win their first Test in Australia, while India needed 12. Sri Lanka have had the longest wait among the major Asian sides, remaining without a victory after 15 attempts. It is also Bangladesh’s second-biggest win in a Test match by wickets. Their biggest remains the 10-wicket victory over Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2024.
Bangladesh’s victory in Darwin is only their second Test win in the traditional SENA countries – South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. Their first came in Mount Maunganui in 2022, when they stunned New Zealand by eight wickets. This was also Bangladesh’s second Test victory over Australia in seven meetings. Their first came in Mirpur in 2017, when, led by Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh beat Australia by 20 runs.
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