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7 hours ago
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Key events
65th over: Australia 192-5 (Green 57, Webster 5) The runs are dribbling along for Australia. Green is finding singles easily now. Taskin adds a no-ball. Deficit down to 36.
64th over: Australia 188-5 (Green 55, Webster 4) Mehidy has 2 for 26 so far. Single for Green this over, Webster misses a sweep in unconvincing style.
63rd over: Australia 187-5 (Green 54, Webster 4) Taskin Ahmed’s first bowl for the day. He hit Green’s leg stump yesterday but the bail didn’t come off. Today he’s aiming at Webster, who blocks out five balls before slamming the sixth to the cover boundary.
Only 41 runs behind now.
62nd over: Australia 183-5 (Green 54, Webster 0) Mehidy through another six balls, Green takes a brace to midwicket.
Half century! Green 52 from 109 balls
61st over: Australia 181-5 (Green 52, Webster 0) My word. Did we say this pitch was flat? Well the bounce is pancake height. That ball from Hasan Mahmud crawls along the floor like David Hasselhoff chasing a burger. If that was in line with the stumps, Green would have been gone. The next one nearly gets him too, seaming in and jammed away from the stumps by the bat. And the last ball of the over Green drives straight for his fifty.
60th over: Australia 178-5 (Green 49, Webster 0) Beau Webster to the middle, blocks his first three balls.
WICKET! Carey c Litton b Mehidy 30, Australia 178-5
There it is for Bangladesh! And still with a lead of 50. Mehidy comes around the wicket, floats his off-breaks in, straightens them down the line. Carey goes down the wrong line, more leg stump, even though that ball pitches more on middle. It turns away slightly, grazes the edge, and is well caught. Such a dangerous player gone, and now Bangladesh are one wicket away from the bowlers.
59th over: Australia 177-4 (Green 48, Carey 30) Another nick for four! Carey throws the bat, this time it slashes wider between slip and gully, and Hasan can only lift his eyes skywards again.
58th over: Australia 173-4 (Green 48, Carey 26) Another quick over from Mehidy, only scoring shot is a Green dab past the keeper.
57th over: Australia 171-4 (Green 46, Carey 26) Oh, edged but safe! Hasan Mahmud gets a genuine nick from Carey, high on the bat, that’s fine bowling. But it dips as it nears the keeper, and dives under his glove. There’s no first slip, but slip would have been set deeper and wouldn’t have got that either. Carey gets four. Keeper was wrong-footed on the replay, weight wasn’t going the right way, that looks like a blunder from Litton Das. Would have got there had he started in the right spot.
56th over: Australia 166-4 (Green 45, Carey 22) Switching up the bowlers: Taijul off, Mehidy Hasan on. Burns through an over in which Carey can’t score, even from a short wide one that he belts straight at the field.
55th over: Australia 166-4 (Green 45, Carey 22) Pace from the other end, Hasan Mahmud around the wicket to Carey. Draws a thick outside edge to deep backward point, the Aussie keeper gets off strike. There’s absolutely nothing for the bowler from this old ball on this track. So the question is how Bangladesh can get through these next 25 overs without giving too much away.
54th over: Australia 165-4 (Green 45, Carey 21) The left-arm spinner begins the day, Taijul Islam bowling very full for the most part. Green steps to leg to force a single through point, which is a bold choice first over of the day.
Let’s go!
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Are you ready? We are about to begin a Cusp of History day. This could be – could be – the day that Bangladesh win a Test match in Australia, something that literally not one single person on this planet would have thought realistic even a few days ago.
However, this could be, and perhaps more realistically will turn out to be, the kind of jam that a team like Australia can still wriggle out of. The pitch isn’t doing much, the quality of batting to come is decent, and even a modest lead could be enough to spook the visiting batters.
So here’s the deal. Bangladesh need a wicket this morning. They need a good piece of bowling, or a bad mistake, to get rid of either Cameron Green or Alex Carey, and set back Australia’s chance to salvage this match.
Right now the Australians are 67 runs behind and four wickets down. Can they turn this around?
