CAIRNS (Australia), July 27: Australia’s evergreen captain Steve Waugh broke more records on Sunday as his world champion side moved in for the kill on the third day of the second Test against Bangladesh here.
Waugh, 38, followed up his 100 not out in the opening Test in Darwin a week earlier with an unconquered 156 as Australia waltzed to 556 for four wickets — the highest innings total against Bangladesh in their brief time in Test ranks.
Batting facing a huge 261-run deficit, Bangladesh showed commendable spirit until late in the day when they lost three quick wickets.
They reached stumps with a rocky 106 for four, still needing another 155 runs to make the home country return to the batting crease.
Together are Sanwar Hossain (six not out) and Alok Kapali (10 not out) as Bangladesh face the prospect of another big drubbing a week after being thrashed by an innings and 132 runs in Darwin.
Bangladesh began their second knock solidly, reaching a promising 87 for one before the dismissal of opener Hannan Sarkar (55) triggered a collapse in which three wickets toppled for as many runs.
Australia declared their run-fest just before tea.
Waugh closed the innings immediately after his fifth-wicket partner, Martin Love, had completed his maiden Test century.
Love, desperately needing a good performance after his first-ball duck in Darwin, scored his century — his first in Tests — off 154 balls, hitting seven fours.
But it was Waugh’s day and when he brought up his 150 in the second session off Ashraful, he became the first player to score 150 against all other Test nations.
Last week, with his 100 not out in the first Test, Waugh joined South Africa’s Gary Kirsten as the only players to have made centuries against the nine other Test nations.
Kirsten, though, does not have 150s against India, Pakistan and New Zealand.
“I’m pleased to have 150s against all of them,” Waugh said.
“I’ve worked hard for it, and it’s nice to have that record. It’ll certainly be challenging for someone else to try to achieve that.”
Waugh has made 14 Test scores of 150-plus, with four against England and two against the West Indies.
In this match, he caressed 17 boundaries while negotiating 291 balls.
In another milestone on Sunday, Waugh moved to second on the all-time list of Test cricket’s century-makers with his 32nd hundred.
Waugh needs two more centuries to equal India’s retired master, Sunil Gavaskar, who holds the world record mark of 34.
Waugh, who has plundered four centuries this year, is now one century ahead of Indian rival Sachin Tendulkar.
“It doesn’t really matter what I set,” Waugh said. “Sachin is going to waltz past it anyway.
“Every innings when you get towards the end of your career assumes a bit more importance because you know it is not going to last for ever — and I’m always looking forward to the next 100, whenever that is.”
As the Bangladesh bowlers toiled manfully, Australia on Sunday lost only the wicket of Darren Lehmann, who thumped 177.
Lehmann, resuming on 156 after making a century in the final session on the second day, lasted only 38 minutes, but that was enough for him to post his highest Test score, bettering the 160 he made against the West Indies in April.
BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 295 (Hannan Sarkar 76; S.C.G. MacGill 5-77).
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings, overnight 351-3):
J.L. Langer c Javed b Mashrafe 1
M.L. Hayden b Sanwar 50
R.T. Ponting c Ashraful b Sanwar 59
D.S. Lehmann c Ashraful b Baisya 177
S.R. Waugh not out 156
M.L. Love not out 100
EXTRAS (LB-11, W-1, NB-1) 13
TOTAL (for four decl, 139.2 overs) 556
FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-105, 3-132, 4-382.
DID NOT BAT: A.C. Gilchrist, B. Lee, J.N. Gillespie, S.C.G. MacGill, G.D. McGrath.
BOWLING: Mashrafe bin Mortaza 25-7-60-1; Tapash Baisya 26-5-96-1 (1w); Anwar Hossain 21-4-95-0; Khaled Mahmud 19-3-75-0 (1nb); Sanwar Hossain 30-2-128-2; Alok Kopali 14.2-0-69-0; Mohammad Ashraful 4-0-22-0.
BANGLADESH (2nd Innings):
Hannan Sarkar c Hayden b MacGill 55
Javed Omar lbw b Gillespie 8
Habibul Bashar c Langer b Lee 25
Mohammad Ashraful c Ponting b MacGill 0
Sanwar Hossain not out 6
Alok Kopali not out 10
EXTRAS (NB-2) 2
TOTAL (for four wkts, 35 overs) 106
FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-87, 3-90, 4-90.
BOWLING (to date): McGrath 7-3-16-0; Gillespie 6-1-18-1; MacGill 11-2-27-2; Lee 11-2-45-1 (2nb).—AFP/Reuters































