In their first Test appearance Down Under in 23 years, Bangladesh thumped a full-strength Australian side by nine wickets in a major upset at the Marrara Cricket Ground, Darwin.

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side made a remarkable turnaround just a week after losing by an innings to the Cricket Australia (CA) XI at the same venue inside three days. They were bowled out for a paltry 54-run total last Saturday, during which a relatively unknown left-armer, Campbell Thompson, recorded an eight-wicket haul in his second First-Class game.

Ahead of their first Test in Australia since July 2023, captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto was asked whether the game in Darwin would be over in three days or five. When the question about the duration of the game was put to Shanto, he dealt with it with a straight bat.

“We want to play till the fifth day, take it session by session. There will always be discussion about whether we can take it to the fifth day. As players, we want to take it to the fifth day,” Shanto had told reporters.

The actual response was much more clinical, with bat and ball, capping off one of the biggest Test upsets in recent times.

Record performances

Riding on the standout individual performances of Tanzid Hasan, who became the first Bangladeshi batter to record a Test ton in Australia with his 197-ball 101, and seamer Hasan Mahmud’s career-best 6 for 55, Bangladesh registered a 228-run innings lead after Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat on Thursday.

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While Cameron Green’s stoic third Test century partially nudged Australia into the lead, off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s five-wicket haul ensured that Bangladesh were only 57 runs away from history on Sunday morning.

First-innings centurion Tanzid fell for a blob this time, offering Josh Hazlewood and the Aussies an early sniff. It didn’t matter in the end as Shadman Islam and number three Mominul Haque locked themselves in and steered the side to a famous win within 15 overs.

WTC slide

The defeat was only Australia’s second in nine Test matches in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, reducing their points percentage (PCT) from 87.55 to 77.77, still maintaining a slender lead over defending champions South Africa (75.00) and New Zealand (72.22).

With their third win in five matches, Bangladesh improved their hold at the fourth spot with a 66.67 PCT, ahead of fifth-place India (48.15) and Sri Lanka (41.67), currently engaging in a Test match in Galle.