History beckoned for Bangladesh this week, but it was the indefatigable Nathan Lyon who chose Chittagong to make plenty of his own and thus earn Australia a share of the series on a dramatic fourth day. Asian Test matches often move slowly before reaching a quick conclusion, and the visitors showed how much their knowledge of the game in this part of the world has grown by seizing the moment to pressure Bangladesh and emerge victorious with no little flourish
Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell took charge of a small target in fading light, after Lyon had made the sprint finish possible by scooping his third six-wicket haul in succession and scooping up a hatful of records in the process. Not least of these was the best haul by an Australian bowler in a two match series, a terrific 22 wickets, surpassing spin luminaries such as Shane Warne and Stuart McGill.
Lyon’s mastery of flight, change of pace, spin and bounce were a delight to watch, and also a reminder of how the art of spin bowling is most often learned gradually over a period of years. Six years after claiming the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara with his very first ball in Test cricket on a crusty surface in Galle, Lyon is very much the finished article, with only and Lance Gibbs ahead of him among the most prolific classical off spinners in history. (Muttiah Muralitharan was, really, more of the unorthodox variety)
Summary: Australia 377 (Warner 123, Handscomb 82, Smith 58, Mustafizur 4-84) and 87 for 3 (Maxwell 25*) beat Bangladesh 305 (Mushfiqur 68, Sabbir 66, Lyon 7-94) and 157 (Lyon 6-60) by seven wickets