Lunch Bangladesh 260 and 133 for 3 (Tamim 76*, Mushfiqur 25*) lead Australia 217 by 176 runs
Tamim Iqbal made his second fifty of the Test © AFP
Tamim Iqbal scored a second half-century in his 50th Test as Bangladesh continued to strengthen their position on the third day against Australia in Mirpur. By lunch, Bangladesh’s lead had ballooned to 176 runs and they still had seven wickets in hand, having lost only nightwatchman Taijul Islam and Imrul Kayes during the opening session, while Australia lost fast bowler Josh Hazlewood to injury.
Hazlewood walked off for assessment on his sore left side midway through his second over of the morning, leaving Australia with only one fit fast bowler – Pat Cummins – on the field. However, it was the spin of Nathan Lyon that brought the only two wickets of a session that ended with Tamim on 76, Mushfiqur Rahim on 25, and Bangladesh’s total on 133 for 3.
Tamim was strong behind square and brought up his fifty from his 109th delivery with a slash behind point for four off Ashton Agar’s first ball of the day. Mushfiqur signalled his intent early in his innings, getting off the mark with a lofted four over mid-on off the bowling of Lyon, and he followed up in Lyon’s next over with a six in the same region.
The pitch had continued to offer variable bounce, which will concern Australia as they eye a target that will almost certainly exceed 200. That bounce had done for Imrul Kayes, who edged a ripping delivery that sprung off the surface and was well taken by David Warner at second slip. Lyon had already accounted for Taijul, who was lbw to a ball that slid on.
In all, Bangladesh added 88 runs in the session for the loss of those two wickets, and with the top-scorer from the first innings – Shakib Al Hasan – still to come, Australia will have their work cut out for them to keep the target to something within reasonable reach.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo