Lunch Bangladesh 70 for 3 (Soumya 33, Mominul 24*, Lyon 3-29) v Australia
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Nathan Lyon’s strikes helped Australia dominate the first session © Getty Images
Nathan Lyon struck thrice to give Australia a chance against Bangladesh on a decidedly flat pitch for the second Test in Chittagong, where Mushfiqur Rahim’s men need only a draw to secure their first ever series victory over Australia.
On a morning when Tamim Iqbal was dropped at third slip by Glenn Maxwell, Australia’s decision to play just one pacer in Pat Cummins left them relying heavily on their spin troika of Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar. Lyon bowled with impressive accuracy and persistence to win three lbw verdicts, the last of which arrived at the stroke of lunch to end a 49-run stand between Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque.
Only three boundaries and a six were struck in the first session, as Bangladesh took a conservative approach, in line with their selection of no fewer than eight batsmen to the playing XI.
In response to their loss in the first Test, Australia dropped Usman Khawaja and brought in allrounder Hilton Cartwright, whose ability to bowl sturdy seamers allowed for the recall of left-arm spinner O’Keefe, the injury replacement for Josh Hazlewood. The hosts meanwhile included an extra batsman in Mominul at the expensive of seam bowler Shafiul Islam, meaning both sides chose just one frontline pacer each.
Cummins took the new ball for his captain Steven Smith, but the second over was bowled by Lyon, who quickly found that the ball didn’t deviate off the surface anywhere near as dramatically as it had done last week. That meant adjustment for both bowler and batsmen, and Lyon was able to adapt most quickly by whirring in towards the stumps.
He claimed Tamim with a delivery that the opener misjudged, thereby failing to cash in on an early reprieve off Cummins. Further incision was made when Imrul Kayes tried to sweep and was given out via DRS – replays showing that a double noise was due to the ball striking both pads.
Sarkar and Mominul were largely untroubled for more than an hour, but the former played down the wrong line to another straight delivery and was struck on the back pad. The batsmen deliberated long and hard before electing not to review, which at least allowed Bangladesh to preserve their two referrals for the afternoon.
O’Keefe’s return took place while he is still suspended from playing in New South Wales’ next assignment, the domestic limited overs tournament, after offensive behaviour towards a female Australian cricketer at the end of season awards night in April. Khawaja, meanwhile, finds himself dropped from an Australian team in Asia for the second time in as many tours, though he remains favoured to bat No. 3 during the home Ashes series that follows.
A win for draw from Bangladesh would deliver the team’s fourth Test series win since entering the five-day arena in 2000, and the first over a team other than Zimbabwe or the West Indies. Australia must avoid defeat in order to avoid dropping to sixth on the ICC Test rankings, their lowest spot since the system was introduced in 2003.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo