Australia, batting in the second innings with a lead of 228 runs, came under pressure from the start. At the end of the second session of the third day, the hosts scored 51 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 17 overs. Bangladesh’s lead is still 177 runs.
 Like in the first innings, Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud dismissed both Australian openers in the second innings. Hasan bowled Travis Head, who had scored 17 runs off 35 balls, to claim his second wicket. The ball outside the off-stump hit the inside edge of the bat and hit the stumps. This was Hasan’s eighth wicket in the match.
Earlier, another Australian opener, Weatherald, was also bowled by Hasan without scoring a single run. As a result, Australia came under pressure after losing two openers early on.
Then Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith tried to control the situation together. At the tea break, Labuschagne was unbeaten on 21 off 48 balls and Smith was unbeaten on 8 off 17 balls.
Earlier, Bangladesh lost their last two wickets in the second session for just 9 runs. Later, Bangladesh bowlers also took two wickets of Australia. As a result, the two teams shared the four-wicket session fairly evenly.
Smith, however, narrowly escaped. In the 14th over, Hasan was playing a cover drive when the ball hit the bat but it went into Liton Das’ gloves before it could hit the ball. Responding to a strong appeal, umpire Kumar Dharmasena signaled for an out, but Smith immediately took a review. Replays showed that the ball had hit the ground, not the bat.
Despite not getting a wicket in the end, Bangladesh’s bowling has put Australia under a lot of pressure. After losing both openers, the hosts now have no option but to build a big partnership to turn the match around.
