Firebrand leads way
PAT Cummins revelled in the Dhaka dirt yesterday in a scintillating spell of fast bowling that did not quite knock out Bangladesh, but sounded Ashes alarm bells for England.
An opening two-over onslaught of 3-5 in the first Test left the host momentarily reeling and the old enemy on the other side of the world fearing what Cummins might be capable of on fast Australian decks.
That frightening prospect will have to wait as a humiditydrained Australia was busy fighting its way out of what had the makings of an epic scrap last night.
On an absorbing opening day, the home side put its shoulder to the wheel after Cummins’s initial blitzkrieg and rebuilt from 3-10 to be 5-190 at tea.
While Cummins was landing heavy blows, his fellow bowlers struggled to break the brilliant 155-run partnership of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan that threatened to turn the match on its head.
Glenn Maxwell broke the stand midway through the second session claiming Tamim for 71, before Nathan Lyon snared the scalp of the impressive Shakib to draw level with Richie Benaud on 248 Test wickets.
But on a pitch already misbehaving and taking significant turn, this Test has a long way to play out and Australia’s batting against spin will be put under the microscope.
Ashton Agar made his longawaited return to Test cricket but the left-armer was given only three overs in the first two sessions.
By the 48th over mark, Maxwell had bowled more overs than Agar and Josh Hazlewood (0-39 off 15 overs) and was the man tasked with drying up the runs. But there is no second guessing who is Australia’s spearhead.
On a pitch with very little bounce, pace or carry, Cummins made the ball sing from the start, showing his enormous talent and why there is no substitute for speed.
The paceman had opener Soumya Sarkar caught at gully, and then had himself on a hattrick when he bulldozed Sabbir Rahman and Imrul Kayes in successive balls, both for ducks.
The 23-year-old has scared batsmen in India and Bangladesh, a sight that is sure to keep England’s top order lying awake at night.
As Tamim and Shakib started to run away with it, Australian captain Steve Smith appeared to miss the steady hand of spinner Steve O’Keefe, on which he relied so heavily in India earlier this year.
Two left-handers at the crease was never going to make life easy for Agar, but in sweltering 96 per cent humidity it seemed Cummins and Hazlewood could have used the extra back-up.
Lyon bowled an almost faultless first session, but that elusive breakthrough never came and an increasingly confident Tamim and Shakib began to start backing themselves hitting over the top.
Three overs for a return of 0-12 was far too early to be judging Agar, especially after he had an edge go through where second slip would have been with his second delivery.
But the dynamic of how Smith alternated between his right and left-arm spinners has changed markedly from India.