Time to stop waiting for the pitch
Peter Handscomb felt the heat and was down on the ground suffering from dehydration with six overs remaining in the day, but stood firm again after a short water break to end the days' play as the Aussies completed their dominance on the second day.
That was the only incident from the visitors which might indicate they are away from home but apart from that it seemed like Australia adapted better to the pitch and conditions than the home side.
It was highly anticipated after the first Test in Mirpur that the pitch at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong will once again help the spinners, but that has not been the case on the first two days.
However, despite there not being much purchase for the spinners Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon adapted quickly to the pitch's demands. The 29-year-old did not wait for the pitch to change its nature but decided to bowl on the stumps with more pace behind the ball in order to skid it on to the Bangladesh batsmen with greater effect.
The top four of the Tigers' batsman fell to the trap in pretty similar fashion, unable to play the line of the delivery as they waited for the turn, a big change for the side who utilised the Mirpur pitch in the first Test quite confidently.
Lyon ended up picking seven wickets. His third five-wicket haul in as many matches and second on tour will surely serve as a lesson to the Bangladesh spinners -- when there is not much to get from the pitch, look for other options.
Perhaps Bangladesh were hoping things would change on the second day when they came out to bowl with a plan to hit the rough areas of the pitch from the Ispahani end. The ploy failed and even off-spinner Mehehdi Hasan Miraz's plan to attack Aussie skipper Steve Smith from around the wicket backfired with Smith managing to score frequently through the fine leg region.
Mehedi bowled 20 overs, while left-arm spinners Shakib and Taijul Islam bowled 15 overs each and the latter did manage to threaten the batsmen on a few occasions.
Still, there were no signs of shifting the plan to create some chances by bowling within the stumps and forcing the Australian batsmen to make mistakes.
There were hardly any close-in fielders, even in the final 10 overs of the day with the Australians exhausted from the heat. Four fielders patrolling the boundary was surely not what the visitors would have expected despite the fact that there were two set batsman in the form of David Warner and Handscomb at the crease.
Additionally, there did not seem to be much of an attacking mindset even after the two wickets that did fall, allowing the visiting side to take charge.
It was indeed a tough day at the office for the home side and for the first time this series their body language, instead of the pitch, deteriorated. There is much that captain Mushfiqur Rahim and coach Chandika Hathurusingha have to think about.
But with three more days in the Test match and an overnight lead of 80 runs, there is still time for Bangladesh to limit the lead that Australia look almost certain to accumulate today if the hosts can discover a way to make the pitch work for them instead of waiting for it to do all the work.
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