Bangladesh’s build-up to a two-Test tour of Australia has taken an alarming turn after the tourists were skittled for just 54 in the second innings of a three-day warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI at Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin, going down by an innings and 38 runs. Left-arm quick Campbell Thompson tore through the middle and lower order to finish with 8 for 25, a spell that leaves serious questions hanging over Bangladesh’s readiness for the first Test, which starts at the same Darwin venue on August 13.
The tourists had shown some fight earlier in the match. Bangladesh posted 263 in their first innings, built around a maiden century from all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who called the innings a confidence boost heading into the series. But Cricket Australia XI, powered by a commanding 130 from opener Teague Wyllie and half-centuries from Jake Doran and Kurtis Patterson, replied with 355, taking a lead of 92 that put Bangladesh under pressure they never escaped.
A Collapse That Will Worry the Dressing Room
Set an improbable task simply to survive, Bangladesh’s second innings disintegrated in barely 17 overs. Resuming the third morning already two wickets down, the tourists lost their remaining eight wickets for the addition of only a handful of runs. Opener Tanzid Hasan was the sole batter to reach double figures, scratching out 22 before he too fell. Thompson, a left-armer who bowled with pace and shape into the right-handers, took his eight wickets in what amounted to a devastating hour and a half of cricket, finishing with the remarkable figures of 8 for 25 as the rest of the Bangladesh order simply had no answer.
Mehidy’s Hundred Offers a Rare Positive
Amid the wreckage, Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s century stands out as the one genuinely encouraging sign for Bangladesh. The all-rounder, who has increasingly been asked to anchor the middle order in testing conditions, said after his innings that the hundred would give him plenty of confidence going into the Test series. It was a mature effort against a Cricket Australia XI attack that included several bowlers pushing for national selection, and it suggested Mehidy at least has found some rhythm with the bat before the real contest begins.
Mehidy’s innings was also notable for how he constructed it, playing largely off the back foot against the short ball and refusing to be drawn into loose strokes even as partners fell around him in the first innings. Bangladesh’s team management has repeatedly pointed to his versatility, moving between the top order and number six depending on conditions, as one of the squad’s few genuine certainties heading into an away series against a vastly more experienced Australian attack.
Hasan Mahmud Offers Encouragement With the Ball
Bangladesh’s bowling also had a bright spot. Seamer Hasan Mahmud picked up 4 for 42 in the Australians’ first innings, showing the kind of control and shape that Bangladesh will need if they are to trouble a powerful home top order in Darwin and, later, at the second Test in Mackay. But one good bowling performance in a warm-up fixture will count for little if the batting continues to fold as it did in Darwin.
The Case for Concern, and the Case for Perspective
There are two ways to read Bangladesh’s capitulation. The pessimistic view is straightforward: a touring batting line-up bowled out for 54 against a second-string state attack in home conditions is a red flag no amount of context can fully explain away, especially with a Test starting on the same ground within days. The more measured view is that warm-up matches are precisely where teams work out technical issues before they matter, and that an eight-wicket haul from an uncapped left-armer swinging the pink or Kookaburra ball under Darwin’s tropical conditions does not necessarily forecast the same problems in the Test itself, particularly once Bangladesh’s specialist batters, some of whom were rotated out of the tour match, are back in the XI.
Looking Ahead to Darwin and Beyond
Bangladesh’s coaching staff now have only a handful of days to address what went wrong before the first Test begins at Marrara Oval on August 13, part of the ongoing 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. A second Test follows in Mackay from August 22-26. With Australia fielding a settled and confident squad on home turf, Bangladesh will need Mehidy’s application and Hasan Mahmud’s discipline to spread through the rest of the batting and bowling groups quickly, or the tour risks turning into a lopsided mismatch before it has properly begun.