Rahim lifts Bangladesh after Lyon special
Bangladesh fought back to reach 253 for 6 at stumps on the opening day after Nathan Lyon threatened to steal the show with a five-wicket haul in the second Test against Australia in Chittagong.
Lyon ran through Bangladesh's top order with four consecutive lbws at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium before Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim put on a 105-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Australia is looking to square the two-Test series after losing its first-ever Test against Bangladesh last week, and will need to keep an eye on the weather with rain forecast for the remaining four days of the game.
Australia went with a three-pronged spin attack, bringing in Steve O'Keefe for the injured Josh Hazlewood and Hilton Cartwright for Usman Khawaja. Bangladesh opted for Mominul in place of Shafiul Islam, the pacer.
But it was Australia's frontline spinner Lyon who did most of the damage after Rahim won the toss and opted to bat. He sent back the top four batsmen before taking his fifth in the last session when Sabbir was stumped for 66.
Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, held the innings together with an unbeaten on 62 and Nasir Hossain (19 not out), the last recognised batsman, for company at close of play.
Rahim was the perfect foil for Sabbir, the former anchoring the innings while the latter played aggressively.
Sabbir brought up his 50 off just 62 balls, while Rahim reached his fifty off 124 balls. Sabbir was finally dismissed when he lost his balance attempting a pull shot with Matthew Wade completing a legside stumping.
Lyon, the first offspinner to open the Test bowling for Australia since 1938, finished with excellent figures of 5 for 77 off 28 overs.
His scalps included Tamim Iqbal, who fell for just nine on his home ground, and Mominul Haque, who has the highest batting average in the Bangladesh team.
Ashton Agar, the left-arm spinner, also chipped in with the big wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, whose all-round heroics earned him the Man of the Match award in the first Test, for 24.
