Bangladesh chip away to keep famous victory in sight

Lunch Bangladesh 417 for 8 (Mehidy 65*, Taskin 12*, Hazlewood 4-86) lead Australia 198 by 219 runs

Bangladesh continued doing the unbelievable against Australia, batting through yet another session of the Darwin Test to get a 219-run lead with two wickets still in hand on the third morning. Mehidy Hasan Miraz's 12th half-century ensured they continued to hold the upper hand in the Test, going to lunch at 417 for 8. Mehidy closed off the session with a hooked six off Pat Cummins, and the body language of the two sets of players as they walked off the field showed off the game situation.

Mehidy found solid support from the tail with Hasan Mahmud, Taijul Islam and Taskin Ahmed all hanging around with plenty of defensive shots, leaves and the surprise big hits.

Wickets seven, eight, and now nine have survived a staggering 47.3 overs between them, further frustrating Australia, who tried everything they could with the ball and with different mixes of fields. Cummins' side didn't help themselves by dropping five catches in total, though, including two in a Cummins over towards the end of the session - Steven Smith went first, dropping a sitter at deep-backward square-leg off Taskin, and Mehidy was then let off by Travis Head running back from midwicket.

Australia finally broke through on the third morning when Josh Hazlewood zipped one into Mahmud's back leg. Mahmud batted for two hours and 43 minutes, comfortably his longest Test innings, having faced 92 balls. It was invaluable contribution to his 46-run seventh-wicket stand with Mehidy.

Taijul stayed for 23 balls too, hitting Hazlewood for a six with a flick over square-leg - shades of Gordon Greenidge there - that drew huge cheers from the Bangladesh dressing room, where the ball landed. But Hazlewood had him caught at gully for 17.

Mehidy clattered Cummins over point soon after Taijul's wicket, before Taskin got one over gully in the next over, off Mitchell Starc. Mehidy's single to mid-on brought up his fifty later in the over, before another single off Cummins' next over brought up Bangladesh's 200-run lead. This was the first time they have taken such a big lead batting second in an overseas Test.

It got worse for Cummins when Taskin hammered him for a four, before Smith dropped the easy chance, which would have taken him past Joe Root to become the outfielder with the most catches in Test cricket. That got plenty of replays on the live broadcast.

Australia had dropped catches on the first and second days too, century-maker Tanzid Hasan benefiting twice. Apart from Tanzid, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (84), Mominul Haque (49) and Mushfiqur Rahim (36) have been key contributors for Bangladesh so far, apart from Mehidy.

Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84