Bangladesh moved to within sight of one of the biggest wins in its Test cricket history after Australia stumbled to 161-4 and remained 67 runs behind at stumps on Day 3 of the first Test on Saturday (August 15, 2026).

Cameron Green (43 not out) and Alex Carey (19 not out) dug in to keep Australia afloat, but the hosts face a huge task to first erase the deficit and then build a competitive total to defend in the final innings. Bangladesh needs six wickets to secure its first Test victory in Australia and arguably the biggest win in its history in the format.

Resuming at 351-6, Mehidy Hasan Miraz calmly shepherded Bangladesh’s tail to another 75 runs, taking the visitors to 426 and extending their first-innings lead beyond 200 before returning to make the crucial breakthrough with the ball, removing Steve Smith late in the day.

Mr. Mehidy shared partnerships of 46 with Hasan Mahmud, 18 with Taijul Islam and then a handy 46-run partnership with Taskin Ahmed before eventually falling for 65 from 154 balls.

Australia was at times its own enemy with another three dropped catches Saturday (August 15), including an inexplicable drop by Steve Smith in the deep, making it five for the battered hosts across the match.

Hazlewood’s 300

Josh Hazlewood claimed all four wickets to fall on Saturday (August 15) and returned 6-89 off 28 overs for the innings. His fifth wicket of Mehidy was also his 300th Test wicket, making him the fourth of Australia’s Big Four bowling attack to reach the milestone, and the ninth Australian to do so.

Mr. Hazlewood then removed Ebadot Hossein caught behind for 7 to end the innings at 426.

Top order woes repeatAustralia lost both openers cheaply before tea as Bangladesh strengthened its grip at Marrara Stadium.

Jake Weatherald (0) and Travis Head (17) both chopped on to paceman Hasan Mahmud attempting cut shots too close to their stumps as Australia slid to 37-2.

It took Mr. Mahmud’s (2-33) match wicket tally to eight after his return of 6-55 in the first innings limited the hosts to 198 and set the tone for the tourists’ upper hand for the following two days.

Also read: AUS vs BAN 1st Test: Barnstorming Bangladesh humble Australia on Day 1

Marnus Labuschagne, also in search of runs after a lean spell, looked busy at the crease until he missed a straight ball from spinner Taijul Islam (1-28) and was bowled for 31 from 59 balls.

Australia’s hopes of salvaging the match rested on Mr. Smith’s shoulders and the veteran looked composed as he characteristically accumulated his runs with low risk.

The match spun firmly toward Bangladesh though, when Mr. Mehidy (1-20) took a sharp caught and bowled chance from Mr. Smith (44) as Australia sunk to 122-4, still 106 in arrears.

The largest first-innings deficit Australia has come back from to win a home Test was 206, when it trailed Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2010.

The two-Test “Top End” series starts a heavy 12-month schedule for the Australians that will feature 20 Test matches, including tours to South Africa, India and England.

England ended an 18-match winless streak in Australia and beat the home side by four wickets in the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday (December 27, 2025).

England lost the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

But England returned the favor by winning the MCG Test Saturday (December 27, 2025) inside two days, similar to Australia’s opening win at Perth.

It was the first time the same series has had multiple two-day tests in 129 years.

The England winless streak had dated to the 2013-14 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0. Since England convincingly won the 2010-11 Ashes 3-1, England had lost 16 matches and drawn the other two of their 18 tests Down Under over a period of nearly 15 years.

Needing 175 second-innings runs to win and 98 after the tea break, England reached its target at 178-6 to clinch the match and send thousands of its long-suffering but faithful “Barmy Army” fans into frenzied celebration.

“It’s obviously been a tough tour up until now,” England captain Ben Stokes said. “The way that we did it was fantastic. It showed bravery, we were courageous in the way we operated.” England raced to 70-2 off the first 10 overs in its second innings, losing the wickets of Ben Duckett (34) and Brydon Carse (6). Scott Boland removed Zak Crawley (37) and Jacob Bethell (40), who both made valuable contributions.

Joe Root (15) and Stokes (2) fell cheaply before Jamie Smith and Harry Brook guided the visiting side to a morale-boosting win ahead of the fifth and final test beginning Jan. 4 in Sydney.

Earlier Saturday (December 27, 2025), England bowled out Australia out for 132 in its second innings after lunch on Day 2. On an MCG pitch offering substantial sideways movement for pace bowlers, England successfully chased down a target of 175 to win after 30 wickets had fallen in 4 1-2 sessions.

The dismissal of opener Travis Head (46) was quickly followed by the departures of Usman Khawaja (0) and Alex Carey (4) in the next two overs as Australia slumped from 82-3 to 88-6 in the morning session.

Stokes (3-24) claimed the important wicket of Cameron Green (19) after lunch, caught at second slip, and Brydon Carse sliced through the tail to finish with 4-34.

“If we got 50 or 60 more across both innings, we might have been there in the end,” Australia stand-in skipper Steve Smith said.

Australia held an overall lead of 46 Friday (December 26, 2025) after scoring 152, running through England for 110 in a dramatic first day Josh Tongue, named player of the match, claimed a career-best 5-45 to lead England’s bowling attack Friday before Michael Neser grabbed 4-45 for Australia.

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Saturday (December 27, 2025) “short tests are bad for business,” and said CA would consider a closer role in pitch preparation in the future.

“Historically we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation and allowed the staff and the conditions and those characteristics to be presented,” Greenberg told SEN Radio. ”But it’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially.” The attendance at the MCG on Saturday (December 27, 2025) was 92,045, the second-highest test crowd in Australia, only behind Friday’s opening-day crowd of 94,199. Officials said 90,000 tickets had been sold for the non-existent third day.