Bangladesh really lost the test in two days
The rest of the batters were also beaten like Nazmul. Photo: Cricinfo
After Bangladesh’s historic victory over Australia in Darwin, a completely different Bangladesh seemed to appear in Mackay. Before the series, there was discussion that a Test could end in two days. Bangladesh dismissed that concern in Darwin. But in the second Test, that discussion returned as a harsh reality in the face of Australia’s pace and bounce. Australia defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs in just two days to finish the two Test series 1 1.
During Bangladesh’s first tour of Australia in 2003, former Australian cricketer and columnist David Hookes had jokingly said that Bangladesh would lose a Test in one day. Bangladesh lost the first Test in three days that time but managed to take the second Test into a fourth day.
But 23 years later, during this tour, talk emerged that Bangladesh could lose a Test in two days. This time, no particular individual made such a comment. Rather, the possibility of how many days Australia could take to win a Test became a topic of discussion in the media. The prospect of a two-day defeat was also discussed. Bangladesh completely dismissed that prospect by winning the first Test. But in the second Test, that very possibility became reality.
Bangladesh lost in Mackay mainly because of another batting failure. Mitchell Starc was at the center of it. The left arm pacer alone took 10 of Bangladesh’s 20 wickets across the two innings. After Bangladesh lost five wickets for just 12 runs in the first innings, the team could not recover. Bangladesh was eventually all out for just 64 runs in 34 overs. Starc took six wickets for 12 runs in 10 overs with six maidens. Pat Cummins took three wickets.
Australia was also not comfortable at the start in reply to Bangladesh’s 64 runs. Shoriful Islam single handedly tore through Australia’s batting order. His outstanding seven wicket spell restricted the hosts to 210 runs. Australia took an important 146 run lead.
Bangladesh then folded for just 95 runs in the second innings. Starc struck again early. Shadman Islam departed quickly. Mominul Haque and Tanzid Hasan also failed to stay at the crease. Captain Shanto fought for a while before being dismissed for 29. Tanzid Tamim scored nine runs. Both dismissals were frustrating. Despite being in good positions, they gave away their wickets by playing poor shots.
The match was even more disappointing for Litton Das. After scoring a duck in the first innings, he was dismissed for another duck in the second innings by Starc. In his three innings across the two Tests on the Australia tour, he registered a duck each time. On every occasion, he was dismissed by Starc. The failure of one of Bangladesh’s most experienced batters in such an important series made the team’s collapse even deeper. Toward the end, Mushfiqur Rahim continued fighting alone. He remained unbeaten on 29 after facing 80 balls.
The clearest picture from the two innings was therefore the failure of Bangladesh’s batters. The same batting unit that handled Australia’s pace attack in Darwin repeatedly played wrong shots on the true bouncing and pacey pitch in Mackay. They struggled to handle balls close to the body and surrendered under the pressure created by Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. Bangladesh scored 64 in the first innings and 95 in the second. Even combined, the two innings did not surpass Australia’s first innings total of 210.
After the historic nine wicket victory in Darwin, Mackay produced the complete opposite picture. Australia ruthlessly exploited Bangladesh’s weaknesses in their home conditions. Bangladesh received a harsh lesson that on Australia’s bouncy pitches, good bowling alone is not enough. Without the ability to adapt in batting as well, it is difficult to maintain control of a Test match.
