Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons has warned his players to expect a fierce backlash from Australia in the second Test after his side shocked the cricket world with a nine-wicket victory in the series opener in Darwin. Australian media dubbed their team’s defeat last weekend as the “Darwin Disaster”, and Simmons said his side could not afford to be complacent when they face the World Test Championship standings leaders in Mackay, starting Saturday. Even if we have to get 1 percent better in some areas, then we will have to make sure that that’s there.
The former West Indies all-rounder also hinted he was reluctant to alter a winning combination despite left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam pressing for selection after impressing in training. Shoriful, who has taken 27 wickets in 13 Tests, missed the first match due to a hamstring injury. But again, we just won a Test match,” Simmons said.
So it’s a possibility, but I can’t really say.” Australia confirmed on Friday they have made just one change to their team for the second Test with Matt Renshaw coming in at the top of the order for Jake Weatherald, who was dropped on Tuesday after six underwhelming Tests. Captain Pat Cummins initially told a news conference that Australia were considering bringing in a fourth paceman in Scott Boland and leaving out spinner Nathan Lyon, who took 1-125 in Darwin in his first match back after a hamstring injury last December. But barely an hour later, officials confirmed Lyon was safe after another look at the wicket on the predicted pace-friendly pitch at the Great Barrier Reef Arena.
With the exception of Steve Smith (71 and 44) and second-innings century-maker Cameron Green, the Australian batting was poor in Darwin. Cummins said he was looking for a much-improved performance from the team in Mackay. Fortunately we’ve got a decent body of work to look back on.
So it’s just about translating our form into actually a good result,” he added.
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