David Warner is unbeaten at tea Getty Images
David Warner is unbeaten at tea Getty Images

After losing Matt Renshaw early, captain Steven Smith along with David Warner provided stability to Australia‘s innings before tea of Day Two, second Test against Bangladesh. Earlier, in the first session of the day at Chittagong, Australia had bundled Bangladesh for 305 but the hosts made a comeback with Renshaw’s wicket in the first session itself. At the end of second session, Australia are 111 for 2 trailing Bangladesh by 194 runs.

Though Australia lost the first wicket early, there was hardly any fear in Smith’s eyes. He was prompt to hit two boundaries soon after his arrival and dominated the bowlers in the following session. Primarily, Mushfiqur Rahim kept shuffling between Mustafizur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan but both were played efficiently by the Australia batsmen, especially Smith. Even a slightest room offered to the Australia captain resulted in a boundary. Though he edged one, there were no other chances that the bowlers could produce. The two batsmen took team’s score past fifty and gradually close to hundred. David Warner, who is a naturally aggressive player, took a step back to help his skipper take the lead. Smith, with his run-fetching and attractive batting, soon scored his half-century. It was a much-needed, strong partnership that brought Australia back into the game after Renshaw’s wicket. The partnership created pressure on the Bangladesh bowlers.

Mushfiqur later introduced Shakib with the ball but the results were the same. It was not until Mushfiqur brought Taijul Islam into the equation that Bangladesh managed to break the partnership. Smith was confident of the ball turning and brought the bat away from the body. It made Taijul’s straighter delivery easy to find the gap and hit the stumps. With Smith departing for 58, Warner will have to anchor the innings as he has faced many deliveries so far and build partnerships further. Mehedi’s bowling seemed a bit wayward in this session as he struggled to find the right areas to bowl, conceding boundaries as a result.

Warner brought up triple-figures with a single. He is batting at 42 with Peter Handscomb at 5.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 305 (Mushfiqur Rahim 68, Sabbir Rahman 66, Nasir Hussain 45; Nathan Lyon 7 for 94, Ashton Agar 2 for 52) lead Australia 111 for 2 (David Warner 42*, Steven Smith 58; Mustafizur Rahman 1 for 30, Taijul Islam 1 for 5) by 194 runs