Mehidy Hasan Miraz has struggled to prove his worth outside of the subcontinent, but has flourished on the Australian tour so far
Mehidy's Smith scalp caps golden day for allrounder
Bangladesh vice-captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz lived up to his reputation as a game-breaking allrounder on the third day of the first Test in Darwin.
After earlier stroking an invaluable 65 from No.7, Mehidy delivered a crushing blow to Australia's hopes of resurrecting the match with the wicket of Steve Smith in the evening session.
Although a proven performer in Asian conditions, Mehidy's career outside of the subcontinent has so far been mixed at best.
After a horror showing, an innings defeat, against the Cricket Australia XI last week, where Mehidy was one of the few bright lights for Bangladesh with a century in the non-first-class match, the allrounder admitted Bangladesh were concerned about what would face them in the first Test.
"Yes, we were a little bit worried about these conditions," Mehidy told reporters after Saturday's play.
"But still we have to believe that we can do better."
And the team's vice-captain led from the front with a sublime individual effort to remove Smith.
Just as the master batter looked set to wipe off the remainder of Australia's deficit in a canter, Mehidy was brought into the attack from the Airport End of the ground to bowl into the wind and to replace his senior partner Taijul Islam.
He tightened the screws against Smith and Cameron Green with the plan to dry up the scoring in conditions otherwise unsuited to slow bowling.
Bowling into a stiff head wind, he conceded only eight runs from his first 5.1 overs.
As Smith tried to work him down to the fielder hallway between mid on and long on for an easy single, the ball grabbed in the pitch and Smith ballooned a catch back to the offie.
He moved swiftly to his right, and held the catch.
"That was great moment for me," Mehidy told reporters after play.
"(The plan was to) bowl the right area all the time, (not) giving him many scoring options. If we're not giving him many runs, we can take wickets.
"I just kept my plan simple … (keep the) ball in a good area all the time and change the line and length."
It was a seminal moment for the Tiger, who has so far struggled to live up to his name as a superstar allrounder outside of Asian conditions.
Prior to this Test at Marrara Stadium, he had played eight Tests in SENA conditions (ie, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) with underwhelming results: 19 wickets at an average of 69.1, well below his overall record of 220 wickets at 32.2.
The same could be said for his batting.
Before this Test, Mehidy averaged a meagre 12.7 outside of Asia from 28 innings.
Zero half-centuries from multiple tours to New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies was a poor reflection on the allrounder's batting ability.
Conversely, from 76 innings in Asian conditions, he averages 28.2 with nine 50s and two centuries.
Having been granted a life off the final ball of the second day in Darwin after Green grassed a low chance in gully, Mehidy resumed on 32 and eyed a golden opportunity.
The diminutive right hander soaked up 154 balls across four hours at the crease, dulling Australia's response with the new ball on the second evening and shutting out any hopes of a quick clean up job the following morning.
He shepherded the tail to add an additional 118 runs for the final four wickets, forging partnerships with all of the Tigers' less credentialled batters.
NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series
First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am (local)
Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
Bangladesh squad (first Test): Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan