Darwin Test: Are Australia still thinking of victory against Bangladesh?
What's the story
Team Australia is still hopeful of a comeback in the ongoing opening Test match against Bangladesh, despite being in a difficult position at the end of day three. The home side ended the day with four wickets down in their second innings, trailing by 67 runs in Darwin. Cameron Green (43*) and Alex Carey (19) helped Australia to stumps with a partnership of 39 runs.
Strategy
Hazlewood on variable bounce
Josh Hazlewood, who entered the 300-wicket club with a six-fer on the day, stressed the importance of building pressure after scoring runs.
"Once we tick those [runs] off, hopefully we're still four down and you can start to build the pressure," Hazlewood said following the end of Day 3.
The veteran pacer also hinted at some variable bounce on the final day of play, saying, "It was showing a little bit of signs of up and down."
Statement
Win is still definitely in our mind: Hazlewood
Hazlewood further stated that if his team manages to put up a fighting third-innings score, Bangladesh batters can be challenged in the latter stages of the game.
"If we can bat deep into tomorrow and potentially even the whole day maybe, there's always opportunities to take 10 wickets on the final day if the wicket is a little bit up and down."
"So [the] win is still definitely in our mind, and always is pretty much. So we'll look to do whatever we can to move towards that."
Deficit challenge
Australia eye record chase
To win, Australia would have to overcome their biggest first-innings deficit at home of 228 runs.
The largest deficit they have ever overturned was when they came back from trailing by 291 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1992.
This match-winning performance could be a template for Australia's strategy in Darwin.
Player focus
Green escapes on 12
Cameron Green has a chance to build on his promising innings and silence critics.
However, Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne are still under fire for their loose dismissals.
Green narrowly escaped dismissal on 12 when an inside edge against Taskin Ahmed brushed the leg stump without dislodging a bail.
Opponent's plan
Mehidy Hasan Miraz confident of keeping target small
Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored a half-century and took the big wicket of Steve Smith, was confident his team could keep the target small.
He said, "We have to work hard for each wicket. We had to do a lot to get those four wickets today."
Miraz stressed that getting at least three more wickets is their first priority on day four.
Summary
How has the game proceeded?
Bangladesh bowled Australia out for 198 in their first innings before posting a massive 426/10.
They then reduced the hosts to 161/4 by stumps on Day 3, leaving Australia trailing by 67 runs with six wickets in hand.
Despite being firmly on top, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has stressed that his team is not getting ahead of themselves.
"We're looking at session-by-session, not the outcome, but following the process," Shanto told Fox Cricket after the third day's play.