Bangladesh’s first innings ended on 426 runs on the third day of the match. Hazlewood was 5 wickets away from the 300-wicket mark before the start of this Test. He completed his 300th Test wicket by having Bangladesh all-rounder Mehdi Hasan Miraz (65 runs) caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey. He then dismissed Ibadat Hussain to end Bangladesh’s innings. This is Hazlewood’s 14th 5-wicket haul in an innings and 4th 6-wicket haul in his Test career. Before this he took 6 wickets against India in Bengaluru Test in 2017.
Hazlewood’s thump on a hostile pitch
Although Darwin’s pitch was not particularly helpful to the fast bowlers, Hazlewood troubled the batsmen with his accurate line and length. In the beginning, Tamim scored 101 runs when Nathan Lyon dropped Tanzeed Hasan Tamim’s catch. However, Hazlewood broke this dangerous partnership by dismissing Mominul Haq. Then with the new ball he dismissed captain Nazmul Hussain Shanto for 84 runs. Apart from this, he also got the wickets of Hasan Mahmood (LBW) and Taijul Islam.
Australia’s bowling quartet created a historic world record
With Hazlewood completing 300 wickets, the Australian bowling unit has set an unprecedented world record in the history of Test cricket. It is the first time in Test history that each of the four main bowlers playing in the playing 11 have taken 300 or more Test wickets. Apart from Hazlewood (300), Nathan Lyon has 568, Mitchell Starc has 435 and captain Pat Cummins has taken 316 Test wickets.
The captain’s faith was justified
Before the match, it was difficult to choose between Scott Boland and Hazlewood, but the faith that captain Pat Cummins and the team management placed in his experience proved right. However, despite Hazlewood’s 6-wicket performance, Bangladesh scored 426 in the first innings to take a solid 228-run lead over Australia, so Australia now have a tough challenge to get back into the match.
