At Darwin, July 18, 19, 20, 2003. Australia won by an innings and 132 runs. Toss:
Australia.
The first Test to be played at Darwin's Marrara Oval - the 89th Test venue, and the
eighth in Australia - was done and dusted in less than half the scheduled playing time.
Bangladesh's fate was sealed on the first day when, overwhelmed by the occasion and
the reputation of the opposition, they collapsed to 97 all out on a drop-in pitch (prepared
in Melbourne and airlifted to Darwin a month before the match), which proved to be
slow and low.
The Bangladesh batsmen struggled most with their shot-selection. Only Javed Omar
was beaten by the bounce, but no one other than Mohammad Ashraful, who pulled
straight to deep square just before lunch for 23, and Khaled Masud batted for longer
than an hour. The Bangladeshis' failure to apply themselves chagrined their coach, Dav
Whatmore, who said: "A few players presented their wickets, and that's just the area
we're trying to improve." Late on, Khaled Mahmud, the tourists' hard-pressed captain,spanked three fours - it was as many as the other ten batsmen managed between them.
The Australians also found scoring difficult, at least until Gilchrist joined Waugh
and upped the tempo. By then Lehmann had posted Darwin's first Test century; Waugh's
own was just over an hour quicker at 177 minutes, and completed his set against all
nine possible Test opponents, matching Gary Kirsten of South Africa.
Bangladesh started their second innings brightly, reaching 70 for the loss of Javed
Omar by the second-day close. But, still prone to losing wickets in batches, they
collapsed on the third morning as MacGill continued to turn the ball sharply. Alok
Kapali completed a pair, courtesy of MacGill's wiles, and only a sensible innings from
Al Sahariar - who was singled out for praise by Waugh after the match, then dropped
for the next Test - delayed the inevitable. Finally, he skied a return catch to give
MacGill his fifth wicket of the innings, and the match was over at 12.41 on the third
day. (Play up in the Tropics started at 9.30, so lunch was at 11.30. George Gunn, who
insisted on lunching at 1.30 whatever the hours of play, would not have approved.)
Man of the Match: S. R. Waugh. Attendance: 13,862.