Lyon fires on tense opening day

Australia's quest to avoid a humbling series defeat to Bangladesh has begun encouragingly after off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed his 11th career five-wicket haul on day one of the second Test in Chittagong.

Playing three specialist spinners alongside a lone quick for the first time almost 40 years, the tourists' venture into largely uncharted territory was boosted by Lyon's 5-77 from 28 overs, his third five-fer in as many Tests.

Australia were held up by a defiant 105-run stand between captain Mushfiqur Rahim (62 not out) and his punchy sidekick Sabbir Rahman (66).

Left-armer Ashton Agar (1-46 from 17 overs) continued his impressive return to Test cricket and was the day's only other wicket-taker, as Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain steered the hosts to stumps at 6-253.

Somewhat incredibly, monsoonal rain that has battered the port city in the Bangladesh's south-east in recent days and affected both teams' preparations was nowhere to be seen as Australia toiled for 90 overs in muggy heat on Monday. 

Before play began, all eyes were on who did and didn't warm up for Australia after intense speculation this week over the positions of wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and batsman Usman Khawaja, as well as who would replace injured quick Josh Hazlewood.

Captain Steve Smith confirmed at the toss (which he lost for the second time in the series) that Wade had been spared, as left-armer Stephen O'Keefe came in to join Lyon and Agar in the spin trifecta, while batting allrounder Hilton Cartwright returned for his second outing in the Baggy Green at the expense of the axed Khawaja.

Tasked with shouldering nearly all the seam-bowling duties, Pat Cummins delivered a hostile early spell and should have had star batsman Tamim Iqbal out for six but Glenn Maxwell, who had slotted in at third slip in Khawaja's absence, grassed a hot chance.

Having watched Tamim bat masterfully in the first Test in Dhaka for scores of 71 and 78, Smith was excusably irate when the catch was put down, but his mood soon lifted when Lyon trapped the home-town batsman lbw for nine with a straight one.

It was a sign of things to come either side of lunch as Lyon skilfully dismantled each of the hosts' top-four batsmen. Bangladesh's inclusion of Mominul Haque meant the home side's top five were all left-handers and just after lunch, the offie had trapped four (including Tamim) of the five leg before wicket.

While the extravagant turn he'd found from ball one in Dhaka wasn't forthcoming, Lyon proved more of a menace with less spin on offer, ruthlessly targeting the stumps.

First drop Imrul Kayes' miserable series continued when he was out sweeping for four, opener Soumya Sarkar (33) was gone on the stroke of lunch before Mominul (31) played back and missed one after the break.

After slashing two boundaries off Cummins' first over of the second session, first-Test star Shakib Al Hasan was kept in check by the visitors before Agar was rewarded for a probing spell when he found the allrounder's edge and Wade clung on to a good catch.

Australia seemed to attack the woodwork more than they did in Dhaka and the reward of five wickets by the day's halfway point on a placid pitch signalled a solid effort.

But aside from a sliced slog that only just cleared Cartwright at long-on, Sabbir and Mushfiqur watchfully steadied things for Bangladesh before tea.

Shunted down to No.7 after the inclusion of the extra batsman, Sabbir then took the game on after the break and raised both fist and bat upon reaching his fourth career half-century from just 62 balls. 

Shortly after Mushfiqur brought up his half-century, Lyon got his fifth scalp in slightly fortunate fashion with the second new ball, as Sabbir overbalanced to a ball down leg and Wade smartly removed the bails at the right moment.

A helmetless Nasir ensured Bangladesh lost no further wickets, but the persistent Tigers still look some way adrift of a par first-innings total on a surface exhibiting far less demons than the one in Dhaka last week.

Australia XI: David Warner, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Matthew Wade (wk), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Steve O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon

Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (c/wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, 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.

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka, Bangladesh won by 20 runs

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong