Australia has the upper-hand after a remarkable opening day of the second Test of the series against Bangladesh, but the hosts have left the door ajar for the Tigers after failing to make the most of the better batting conditions.
After Mitchell Starc rattled through the Bangladesh top-order with a sizzling spell in what is a must-win Test for Australia if they are to square the series, fellow left-arm quick Islam Shoriful bowled the Tigers back into the Test with a brilliant spell.
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The fact that 18 wickets fell seems extraordinary given the pitch did not appear overly taxing, but it was the ability of the two attacks to move the ball in the air that proved deadly, with Starc and Shoriful superb.
At stumps, Australia is 8-165 and leads by 101 runs, with Cameron Green batting with poise again when notching his half-century shortly before the end of play. He is unbeaten on 51, while Nathan Lyon is not out on 10.
“It is just extraordinary,” Kayo Sports’ expert Adam Gilchrist said.
“This game is well and truly wide open.”
Former Australian selector Mark Waugh has declared Marnus Labuschagne “might have played his last game” after the Queenslander’s winter of discontent continued on Saturday.
To suggest Labuschagne was unlucky to be dismissed for four would be an understatement, but it does not exclude him from culpability after he was bowled by Shoriful Islam, who took his first five wicket Test haul to renew hope for Bangladesh.
Told by Australian coach Andrew McDonald he needed “big runs” after flattering to deceive in Darwin when out for 31, the No.3 was out when a ball ricocheted off his thigh pad and on to leg stump.
The dismissal prompted bewilderment from anyone who has held a bat, for usually a ball clipping the thigh pad will run harmlessly down to fine leg but as every Fox Cricket expert noted it is the type of dismissal that happens when your luck is out. And he had opened the door to be dismissed, for further chat about his future and, along with his teammates, for the Tigers to fight back into the match after Mitchell Starc’s stunning start to the second Test of the series.
“You could say unlucky but he was a long way across his crease, so he has opened up the opportunity for that dismissal,” Healy said.
“He has opened the door again for the chit chat but he has one more innings to prove us wrong. But I feel like when you are out of luck, out of form, you find ways to get out… I think they are going to have to force some change into the South African series and bring some fresh blood in. I mean, there is no reason why not anymore because we are failing as is.” “It feels sad to stand here and say that but it is time to have another look.”
That is a massive problem for Labuschagne and also for the Australian selectors with a view to the massive season of Test cricket ahead, starting with the three Test tour of South Africa.
“Whether he gets a second innings or not, we don’t know, and if he doesn’t, the selectors will strongly look at his position for South Africa,” Waugh said.
