Bangladesh Beat Australia in Just Their Third Test Down Under

Bangladesh beat Australia by nine wickets in Darwin on Sunday, and the number that explains the shock isn't nine — it's three. This was only the third Test Bangladesh have ever played on Australian soil, and their first tour of the country in 23 years. They wrapped it up inside four days, with a full day left in the match.

The damage was done long before the finish. Hasan Mahmud took 6 for 55 to remove Australia for 198 at Marrara Oval. Tanzid Hasan replied with 101, his maiden Test hundred, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto made 84 and vice-captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz 65, pushing Bangladesh to 426 and a first-innings lead of 228. Australia never recovered from that gap.

If you follow Indian cricket, this is more than a novelty result from the Top End. Australia walked away from a home Test with zero World Test Championship points while Bangladesh banked the full 12. The 2025-27 WTC is settled on the percentage of available points a side wins, so a blank at home costs Australia far more than a slow over-rate fine ever would.

How Four Days in Darwin Went Wrong for Australia

Australia batted first and were never in control of the match after lunch on day one. Each session added to the hole rather than filling it, and by the fourth morning the hosts were still behind with six wickets left.

Hasan Mahmud's Six Wickets on Day One

Hasan Mahmud's 6 for 55 is now the best return by any Bangladesh bowler against Australia. Steve Smith top-scored with 71 and nobody else offered sustained resistance. Ebadot Hossain chipped in with 2 for 39. Australia's 198 on a surface their own selectors had picked looked, in hindsight, like the whole match in miniature.

Tanzid Hasan's Maiden Test Hundred

Tanzid Hasan had never made a Test century before this week. He made one here, in Australia, against an attack containing Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. Hazlewood finished with 6 for 89 and still ended on the losing side — a decent measure of how little support the rest of the bowling gave him.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz's Five-For at the End

Australia resumed day four on 161 for 4, still 67 runs adrift. Cameron Green fought to 104 off 201 balls, his third Test hundred and his first at home, but Mehidy took 5 for 66 to finish the innings at 284. He removed Alex Carey for 30 and bowled Beau Webster for five. Target: 57.

Why Bangladesh Beat Australia So Comfortably

Two things stand out. First, Bangladesh's seamers hit a length that stayed relevant on a dry northern pitch instead of chasing bounce. Second, their spin didn't wait for day five — Mehidy attacked with men around the bat while the game was still live. Bangladesh also caught almost everything, which is not a sentence often written about them abroad.

It was excellent. A great moment for us. The way we are playing shows our character. Everything was perfect. — Mehidy Hasan Miraz

What It Does to the World Test Championship

Australia are the top-ranked Test side and have spent years treating home Tests as guaranteed points. Losing one to Bangladesh is the sort of result that quietly rearranges a two-year league table. India, who reached the WTC final in 2021 and 2023 and lost both, benefit from any Australian slip that isn't of their own making. Percentage points, not headlines, decide who plays that final.

How It Compares With India's Wins in Australia

India remain the only Asian team to have won a Test series in Australia, doing it in 2018-19 and again in 2020-21 with a second-string side at the Gabba. Those took repeated tours, decades of scar tissue and a deep bench. Bangladesh have now beaten Australia twice in total — Dhaka in 2017, and this — and did the away half of it at the third attempt. It's a different kind of achievement, and arguably a stranger one.

What to Watch When the Second Test Starts

The second and final Test runs from 22 to 26 August at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, which means Bangladesh cannot lose the series. Three things will tell you whether Darwin was a one-off:

• Whether Australia change their batting order or bring in a second spinner for a different surface.
• Whether Hasan Mahmud and Mehidy can repeat it, or whether Darwin's conditions did half the work.
• Whether Bangladesh's top order backs up 426 — away collapses have undone their good weeks before.

Set a reminder for the 22nd. Bangladesh have already made this tour worth following, and a side that has never won a Test series in Australia now needs only a draw in Mackay to take one home. Watch the first hour of Australia's first innings — if Hasan Mahmud gets movement again, this stops being a fluke and starts being a problem.