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Drama as Hazlewood exits field mid-over

Australian fast bowler unable to complete over and leaves ground midway through over on third morning

Australia's first Test predicament has become all the more dire after paceman Josh Hazlewood walked off the field midway through an over on the first morning on day three with an apparent side injury.

Hazlewood bowled his first over of the day without noticeable trouble, having replaced fellow quick Pat Cummins, but it was with the first ball of his second over that the injury appeared to strike.

The New South Welshman clutched at his left side, before motioning to captain Steve Smith that he would need the problem to be assessed.

Hazlewood, who has figures of 0-3 from 4.1 overs, went off for medical treatment, and a Cricket Australia spokesperson confirmed he'd pulled up with a "sore side" and was unlikely to return during the morning session.

After some discussion with the skipper, and a quick side stretch, he collected his floppy hat and walked off to the Mirpur dressing room.

Australia went into this series opener with two pacemen and two spinners, with off-spinner Glenn Maxwell the all-round option, meaning Cummins will be required to shoulder a considerable fast bowling load if Hazlewood is unable to take further part in the match.

While a number of his fellow fast bowlers have battled injury problems in recent years, Hazlewood has been fit and firing for an extended period of time.

He's played in 22 consecutive Tests for Australia, and the last Test he missed was the final match of the 2015 Ashes in England.

Image Id: 1BA7513DC46A42509CFC9D1D14FB3151 Image Caption: Hazlewood takes his hat and Ashton Agar completed the over // Getty

The 26-year-old has become one of Australia's most dependable performers and has 118 wickets from 31 Tests, including the ongoing match.

While Cummins made headlines with his devastating opening spell to reduce the hosts to 3-10 on day one in Dhaka, off-spinner Nathan Lyon rated Hazlewood's first-innings effort (0-39 off 15 overs with five maidens) as equally impressive.

"I thought Pat bowled very well, but I thought Josh bowled very well as well," Lyon told reporters on Sunday.

"I think Patty cracked the game open for us but then they had a partnership. Patty's an unbelievable bowler, so is Josh.

"The amount of effort that goes in from those two to go in and perform like they did in those type of conditions.

"It was pretty tough out there, I'm not going to lie. It was probably one of the toughest days I've had in Test match cricket with the heat and the humidity.

"I'm pretty proud of those guys and to be able to take 10 wickets on day one after losing the toss and bowling first, as a bowling unit I'm very proud of them."

If Hazlewood were to miss the second Test in Chittagong, seamer Jackson Bird would appear to be his most likely replacement.

Bird was in Australia's squad for the four-Test tour of India earlier this year but didn't a play a match, with Cummins parachuted into the playing XI when Mitchell Starc, who was rested from this tour, went down injured. Bird's last Test came on Boxing Day last year, where he picked up five wickets against Pakistan.


Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.


27-31 August First Test, Dhaka


4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong