Hazlewood sees Bangladesh blueprint for Australia

Australia may have found some resistance with the bat late on the third day of the first Test in Darwin, but Josh Hazlewood believes Bangladesh have already shown them the way forward with the ball.

“I think the way Bangladesh went about their bowling just then, it was pretty tight, they didn’t give much away, and found a few results, so that’s the way forward, I think,” Hazlewood, who reached 300 Test wickets on Saturday, told reporters during the post-day press conference.

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It was pretty tight, they didn’t give much away, and found a few results, so that’s the way forward, I think.

Bangladesh’s pacers were at the heart of their dominance early in the Test, bowling Australia out for 198 in the first innings and taking all 10 wickets for only the second time in their Test history.

Hasan Mahmud claimed 6-55, while Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain took two wickets apiece. Hazlewood felt Bangladesh made the most of the conditions, particularly when the ball was moving early.

“They bowled very well to the conditions,” he said. “Looking back, it probably got the most out of the wicket in the first half of Day 1, which they maximised. I thought they bowled a nice full length.”

Bangladesh again applied pressure with the ball in Australia’s second innings after taking a 228-run first-innings lead. Hasan removed both Australian openers, with Darwin-born Jake Weatherald falling for a third-ball duck and Travis Head departing for 17.

Marnus Labuschagne made 31 and Steve Smith 44 but could not convert their starts, leaving Australia in trouble at 120 for four before Cameron Green and Alex Carey steadied the innings.

Green was unbeaten on 43 and Carey on 19 at stumps, leaving Australia 67 runs short of making Bangladesh bat again with two days remaining.

Hazlewood believes the pitch remains good for batting but said Australia need to build pressure rather than simply attack.

“The pitch is still very good to bat on,” he said. “I think the chances are probably slowing the scoring rate and forcing a mistake that way is probably the way to get the wickets.”

The Australian quick also suggested the hosts still have a route to victory if they can survive the fourth day.

“We’re still, I think, 70 behind,” he said. “Once we tick those off hopefully we’re still four down and we can start to build the pressure.”

Hazlewood added that if Australia can bat deep into the fourth day, the changing nature of the pitch could give them another opportunity on the final day.

“If we can bat deep into tomorrow and potentially even the whole day maybe, there’s always opportunities to take 10 wickets on the final day if the wicket is a little bit up and down,” he said. “So a win is still definitely in our mind.”

A win is still definitely in our mind.

For now, however, Bangladesh remain in the stronger position. Australia must first erase the 67-run deficit, while Bangladesh need six wickets to expose the lower order and press home their advantage.