Hasan makes historic spell

Before leaving for Australia, Hasan Mahmud had said that he wanted to take five wickets at least twice there.

Hasan turned the dream into reality at Darwin’s Marrara Stadium. In his very first innings in Australia, he claimed six wickets-returning figures of 6 for 55, which also marked his career-best bowling performance.

Now Hasan joined an exclusive club when collecting a rare six-wicket haul for his country on the opening day of the first ICC World Test Championship contest against Australia.

This marks the first time a Bangladeshi bowler has taken at least five wickets on Australian soil across all three formats.

Previously, the highest wicket hauls by a Bangladeshi bowler in a single innings in Australia were three by Mashrafe in Tests, and four each by Rubel in ODIs and Taskin in T20Is; Hasan has now surpassed them.

Mahmud produced a superb spell of fast bowling to finish with impressive figures of 6/55 from 17 overs as Bangladesh dismissed the World Test Championship pacesetters for just 198 on an action-packed day of Test cricket at Marrara Stadium.

It was the third-best bowling ever by a Bangladesh fast bowler in Test cricket, with Shahadat Hossain (6/27) and Ebadot Hossain (6/46) the only two players to better Mahmud’s mark.

Overall, it marked the first-ever five-wicket haul by a Bangladesh bowler in Australia.

It was also the lowest score Australia have ever been bowled out for by Bangladesh in Test history, beating the previous mark of 217 at Mirpur in 2017.

And it was just the second time that Bangladesh pacers have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings, with the only previous instance coming against Pakistan in the second innings at Rawalpindi in 2024.

It was in this Test that Hasan Mahmud had claimed his first five-wicket haul in Tests.

Having won the toss and opting to bat first, Australia were unable to find rhythm early on in Darwin.

Steve Smith (71 off 109 deliveries) held one end but didn’t find the support to forge a partnership in the first innings.