- Bangladesh chase down 57-run target with nine wickets in hand.
- Miraz leads Bangladesh’s bowling charge with five wickets.
- Cameron Green scores 104 runs for Australia in second innings.
MELBOURNE: Bangladesh chased down 57 runs to complete a landmark nine-wicket victory over Australia in the series-opener in Darwin on Sunday in one of Test cricket’s greatest upsets.
Mominul Haque cut Beau Webster to the fence for the winning runs to seal Bangladesh’s first Test win in Australia within four days in stifling heat at Marrara Oval, foiling a valiant century from home all-rounder Cameron Green.
The winning boundary triggered jubilation among Bangladesh’s players, who jumped and shouted on the sidelines.
Flooring a full-strength Australia, the world’s top-ranked Test nation in their own backyard, will be regarded by many as the South Asian nation’s finest victory in 26 years of playing the game’s longest format.
It took 23 years for Australia to host Bangladesh in a second Test, series since sweeping them 2-0 in 2003, so Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side were determined to prove their worth.
They did far more than that, as they dominated the World Test Championship leaders with bat, ball and in the field in virtually every session.
Bangladesh had heroes throughout the match, but on day four it was spin-bowling all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz standing up to strike the decisive blows as Australia were bowled out for 284.
Having scored 65 with the bat in Bangladesh’s first innings and caught-and-bowled Australia’s traditional saviour Steve Smith for 44 on day three, Miraz took another four wickets on the final day after Australia resumed on 161 for four, still 67 runs in arrears.
“It was excellent, a great moment for us,” Miraz said.
“The way we are playing shows our character. Everything was perfect.”
The grinning 28-year-old had wicketkeeper Alex Carey caught behind for 30 and bowled all-rounder Beau Webster for five with a pair of sumptuous deliveries to bring Australia’s tail into play.
Australia captain Pat Cummins was caught in close for eight, with Miraz inducing a bat-pad catch for Shadman Islam.
Mitchell Starc dug in with Green for a defiant eighth wicket partnership of 43 but he was caught behind for 18 off the bowling of fellow seamer Taskin Ahmed.
Green held on to raise his third Test century and first on home soil after lunch with two runs off Taskin.
The defiant knock was a timely response to critics of Green’s place in the side but he was bowled soon after for 104, becoming Hasan Mahmud’s ninth wicket for the match by playing onto his stumps.
With only a 50-run lead and tailenders Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood clinging to the last wicket, Green’s departure was effectively game over for Australia.
Miraz wrapped up Australia’s innings by trapping fellow spinner Lyon lbw for 15.
With clumps of delirious Bangladesh fans chanting between every ball, Shadman and Haque mowed down the runs efficiently.
Opener Tanzid Hasan was bowled by Josh Hazlewood for a duck but may hardly care, having scored a majestic 101 in the first innings to help Bangladesh put 426 on the board in reply to Australia’s paltry 198.
