Last Updated on 54 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
Australia face an almighty fight to win or save the first Test against Bangladesh in Darwin. The visitors have dominated proceedings, grinding down the Australians under the hot sun and putting themselves in a great position to achieve a historic victory.
At lunch on day three, Bangladesh sit at 417/8 with a massive lead of 219. Given Australia’s batting woes, the Tigers should have plenty of belief that they can go on and win having been written off by many before the series.
Australia and winning after conceding a 200+ lead: Rare territory
According to ABC Sport’s Ric Finlay, Australia have conceded a 200+ lead 82 times in Test cricket. Only three times have they gone on to win.
The largest deficit was 291 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1992. Australia hit 471 in the second innings to leave Sri Lanka needing 181 for victory. Spinners Greg Matthews (4/76) and Shane Warne (3/11) led the way as the Aussies pulled off a stunning victory.
The other two instances were against South Africa in Durban in 1950 (236 runs) and Pakistan in Sydney in 2010 (206 runs).
Overall in Test cricket, teams taking a 200+ lead win 80.6% of the time. 18.3% have been drawn and only 1.1% have been won by the team behind in the game.
Bangladesh have been outstanding in Darwin. They have made Australia fight for every inch, grinding Pat Cummins’ team into the Marrara Oval turf. At the time of writing, the Tigers have batted 133 overs – an innings this Australian bowling attack isn’t used to in recent times.
Also, Australia face this massive deficit with three out-of-form players in their top five. Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green must deliver in the second innings, both for the team and their respective spots in the XI moving forward.
Given how flat and insipid Australia look in the field, winning this Test looks a tall order indeed.
