Hasan Mahmud Takes Two Wickets as Bangladesh Dominate Australia in Darwin Test Opener

On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Bangladesh fast bowler Hasan Mahmud removed both Australian openers in the opening session of the first Test at TIO Stadium, Darwin, helping the tourists seize control of a match Australia had not hosted against them in 23 years. Hasan finished the morning with two wickets as the hosts reached lunch at 74 for 4 after winning the toss and choosing to bat on a green-tinged surface that offered seam movement throughout the session.

Hasan struck twice inside four overs to break a 45-run opening stand, dismissing Jake Weatherald and Travis Head and leaving Steve Smith to rebuild with a reshuffled middle order. For viewers in India, where Hasan is already familiar after his seven-wicket haul at Chepauk against India’s top order in January 2025, the spell reinforced his reputation as a new-ball operator who can trouble elite batting line-ups.

Editor’s note: This article draws on ball-by-ball scorecards and match reports from BBC Sport, Reuters, and AP News coverage of the Australia–Bangladesh first Test, August 13, 2026. Figures reflect the state of play at lunch on day one unless otherwise noted.

Match at a glance

Detail	Information
Series	Australia vs Bangladesh — 2 Tests, 2026
Match	1st Test, day 1 of 5
Date	Thursday, August 13, 2026
Venue	TIO Stadium, Darwin, Northern Territory
Toss	Australia elected to bat
Session covered	Morning session (pre-lunch)
Australia at lunch	74 for 4 (21.6 overs)
Hasan Mahmud	2 wickets in the opening session

How Hasan removed both openers

Taskin Ahmed and Hasan shared the new ball, and both found consistent movement off the deck in humid Darwin conditions. Australia had reached 45 without loss in 11.4 overs before Hasan intervened.

In the 12th over, Hasan tempted Weatherald with deliveries outside off stump before the right-hander edged one through to wicketkeeper Litton Das. Weatherald departed for 23 off 37 with four boundaries, ending a patient start.

Two overs later, Hasan struck again. Bowling around the wicket to left-hander Head, he produced a good-length delivery that jagged back — Head played at a rising ball outside off, took an inside edge, and saw the ball crash into his leg stump. Head walked off for 22 off 39 with three fours, having just driven a boundary through cover.

Dismissal	Score	Detail
Jake Weatherald	23 (37)	c Litton Das b Hasan Mahmud — Australia 45/1 (11.4 ov)
Travis Head	22 (39)	b Hasan Mahmud — Australia 52/2 (13.4 ov)

Hasan’s control in the corridor — mixing away movement with balls that seamed back into the left-hander — gave Bangladesh early leverage on a pitch where batting first looked far from straightforward.

Australia’s collapse to lunch

The openers’ departures triggered a broader wobble. Marnus Labuschagne fell for 1 off 20, caught by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto at second slip off Ebadot Hossain, and Cameron Green was caught behind by Mushfiqur Rahim off Taskin Ahmed on the stroke of lunch.

Fall of wicket	Batter	Score	Overs
1st	Jake Weatherald	45/1	11.4
2nd	Travis Head	52/2	13.4
3rd	Marnus Labuschagne	61/3	18.2
4th	Cameron Green	74/4	21.6

At the interval, Steve Smith was unbeaten on 7 off 20, with Australia having lost four wickets for 29 runs after the opening partnership. All four dismissals had gone to Bangladesh’s pace attack — a sharp contrast to the hosts’ expectations on home soil.

Bangladesh’s pace quartet

Hasan was not alone. Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, and the rest of Bangladesh’s seam battery maintained disciplined lines on a surface that rewarded bowlers who hit the right lengths.

Bowler (pre-lunch)	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy
Hasan Mahmud	~7	~25	2	~3.6
Taskin Ahmed	~6	~20	1	~3.3
Ebadot Hossain	~6	~18	1	~3.0

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz had bowled in the session without reward, underlining how much the morning belonged to the quicks. Bangladesh’s attack exploited the grass covering and Northern Territory humidity — conditions that kept the ball moving in the air and off the seam.

Historical and regional context

This is Bangladesh’s first Test tour of Australia since 2003, and their first red-ball fixture against the hosts on Australian soil in more than two decades. Darwin was chosen as the series opener partly because its tropical climate can produce surfaces closer to subcontinental conditions than the traditional Australian summer venues.

For Indian cricket followers, Hasan’s name carries immediate recognition. His 7 for 84 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, in the 2025 Test series dismantled India’s top order and announced him as a genuine Test-match threat. Thursday’s spell against Head and Weatherald — two batters central to Australia’s recent Test identity — extended that narrative on a different continent.

Australia entered the series as heavy favourites, with a home record that has rarely been breached by Asian touring sides in the longest format. Bangladesh’s opening-session performance suggested the two-Test series may not follow a predictable script.

What happens next

The first Test runs from August 13–17, 2026, with the second match scheduled later in the Australian summer. Bangladesh’s XI featured experienced hands including Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, backed by a pace attack built around Hasan, Taskin, and Ebadot.

Australia’s response in the afternoon session — and whether Smith could anchor a recovery with the lower order — would shape the balance of day one. For Bangladesh, sustaining the new-ball intensity across five days on an unfamiliar tour remained the longer challenge, but the opening session delivered exactly the start they had travelled 23 years to achieve.

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Discussion

Hasan’s double strike in Darwin bookended a morning that flipped the script on a fixture most observers expected Australia to control.

1. After his Chepauk demolition of India’s top order, does Hasan Mahmud’s spell against Head and Weatherald mark him as one of the most dangerous new-ball bowlers in Asian Test cricket right now?

Can Bangladesh build a series around his early overs, or will Australia’s middle order find ways to blunt him as the pitch flattens?

2. Australia chose to bat first on a green Darwin deck — was that the right call once Hasan and Taskin found movement, or should the hosts have reassessed conditions at the toss?

How much of the collapse was tactical misjudgment versus simply high-quality fast bowling?

Share your read on Hasan’s wickets, Bangladesh’s opening session, and whether this tour can produce a genuine Test upset in Australia.

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