Australia rocked by three late wickets

A disciplined Australia bowling effort was dramatically undone by a frenzied late batting collapse on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh, as the visitors surrendered three wickets in 10 balls to close out an action-packed final session.

After Bangladesh managed a fighting tally of 260 on a Mirpur pitch showing early signs of subcontinental spice, David Warner (eight), Usman Khawaja (one) and nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (0) all departed before stumps.

Quick Single: Lyon makes history, rivals contemporaries

Warner and Lyon were trapped lbw by Mehedi Hasan and Shakib al Hasan respectively either side of a disastrous run-out that accounted for Khawaja, with the chaotic period resurfacing nightmares of subcontinental meltdowns by Australia in recent years.

Opener Matthew Renshaw (six not out) and skipper Steve Smith (three not out) took Australia to 3-18 at stumps, reeling from the late blows and still trailing by 242.

It overshadowed a day highlighted by Lyon's 250th Test wicket and a Pat Cummins blitz, with the pair claiming three scalps apiece, as did returning tweaker Ashton Agar (3-46).

Lyon also passed cricket icon Richie Benaud's mark of 248 Test scalps to become Australia's second-most prolific spinner, after the great Shane Warne.

Having elected to bat first, Bangladesh were boosted by a fearless 155-run fourth-wicket partnership between Tamim Iqbal (71) and Shakib (84), both playing in their 50th Tests.

In a stunning eight-ball burst this morning, Cummins removed three of Bangladesh's top four and once again showed a rare knack of being able to fluster Test batsmen with raw pace.

Just five balls into his first over, he had opener Soumya Sarkar caught in the gully off a rising delivery, before Imrul Kayes and Sabbir Rahman were caught behind for ducks in successive balls.

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But from 3-10 with their top-order in ruins, Tamim found a daring ally in Shakib and set about repairing the damage.

The veteran pair occupies spots one (Tamim) and two (Shakib) on Bangladesh's all-time leading run-scorers list, but remarkably they hadn't batted together in the longest format since 2014, when both batsmen struck centuries against a lacklustre Zimbabwe.

Here though they formed an effective union against far more accomplished bowling, led by a red-hot Cummins (3-63 from 16 overs) and Lyon (3-79 from 30 overs), the latter a hugely-improved prospect in subcontinental conditions.

The off-spinner found purchase out of the dry Mirpur pitch but Tamim showed impressive nerve to skip down the track and loft him for six over cover in his first over.

But as the opening batsman soon slowed his pace to a virtual standstill, at one point going 32 balls without scoring, the free-wheeling Shakib brought up his half-century off only 65 balls after the lunch break, and it was enough to eventually convince Tamim to again free the arms, which he did with a series of crowd-pleasing strokes.

Tamim's confidence in hitting in the air over the off-side is arguably unrivalled in world cricket; he smashed Lyon high over wide long-off despite Cummins patrolling the rope in that very position, before launching the spinner for another six – this time over long-on – the next ball.

As his partnership with Shakib stretched beyond 150, he was lucky to survive a tough caught-and-bowled chance to Hazlewood, but wasn't as fortunate three overs later when Glenn Maxwell found some extra bounce and his attempted cut ballooned to David Warner at point.

It was Maxwell's first Test wicket since the 2013 tour of India and his five solid overs can only have given Smith, who has used him only sparingly in both Test and one-day formats in recent times, greater confidence in his bowling ability.

Lyon though was the most consistently threatening of Australia's three spinners, challenging the outside edge and off-stump of the hosts' left-handers and occasionally finding alarming bounce.

His dismissal of Shakib, poking to Smith at slip, ended a knock worthy of triple-figures and had Bangladesh again on the back foot at 5-188.

Playing his first Test in more than four years, Agar was largely overlooked by Smith during the first two sessions, with Lyon and fellow offie Maxwell deemed greater threats to Bangladesh's bevy of left-handers.

With Shakib and Tamim gone, Agar was thrown the ball after tea and he too claimed his first wicket in more than four years, the crucial scalp of skipper Mushfiqur Rahim.

In a decision reminiscent of one Smith was on the wrong end of at the WACA last summer, Mushfiqur had advanced down the track and, beaten in flight, used his pad to cover the spin. A strong appeal from Agar eventually had umpire Nigel Llong raising his finger, a call that stood the test of the DRS.

It was a huge moment for Agar, who has returned to the Test side in place of fellow left-armer Stephen O'Keefe, who was dropped despite collecting 19 wickets on Australia's four-Test tour of India earlier this year.

Lyon and Cummins exposed some extravagant movement in the final session, and Matthew Wade's 15 byes were partly a reflection of a Sher-e-Bangla track that became more volatile as the day wore on.

After a 35-minute rain delay, in which groundstaff had covered the entire field of play in impressive time, Lyon continued his marathon day and passed Benaud with Test wicket No.249 when he had Mehedi Hasan caught at bat-pad.

Mehedi, a prodigious 19-year-old off-spinner, looked none-too-pleased with Aleem Dar's decision but had no recourse as Bangladesh had already used up their two reviews.

Nasir Hossain (23) became the second player to be given out lbw after advancing down the wicket to Agar, before Lyon got his third – Taijul Islam (4) lbw with a straight one – and the 250th of his career. Agar wrapped up the innings when tailender Shafiul Islam's wild slog was pouched by Cummins at mid-on.

It took just four overs for Bangladesh to bring on spin from both ends, and while Warner survived an lbw decision off Mehedi on review thanks to a healthy inside edge, he missed the very next delivery and was on his way for eight.

His replacement, the recalled Khawaja, followed him back the next over when he pushed for a sharp single that never truly appeared on – an assessment that was made by Renshaw, who had sent him back only to see his partner's desperate dive prove fruitless. Lyon’s milestone day was then soured when, acting as nightwatchman, he played all around a straight one from Mehedi.

And while they watched Bangladesh recover from a similarly difficult position this morning, Australia have their work cut out trying to get back into this Test on a pitch already playing tricks.

 

AUSTRALIA XI: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Matthew Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

BANGLADESH XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

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, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

22-23 August Tour match, washed out

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong