AUS vs BAN: Josh Hazlewood Joins Lyon, Cummins in Elite 300-Wicket Club With Six-Fer Against Bangladesh

Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has become the Australian pacer to take 300 Test wickets after claiming his 14th career 5-wicket haul in the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh in Darwin. In the process, Hazlewood joined his teammates Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins in the elite 300-wicket Test Club.

Interestingly, they are the only bowling attack in the history of Test cricket to have claimed 300 Test wickets. Of the nine Australians to have taken 300 Test wickets, only Glenn McGrath (21.64), Cummins (22.21) and Dennis Lillee (23.92) have done so at a better average than Hazlewood's 24.02.

"You don't really think about those sorts of milestones when you're playing. I guess it's probably something you look back on at the end. But I guess just to see the other names there, and I'm playing with three of them, so yeah, it's pretty cool," Hazlewood said, quoted by Kayo Sports after the innings.

AUS vs BAN: Hazlewood Marks 300th Test Wicket With 6-Fer

Josh Hazlewood entered the Test just five wickets short of the 300-mark, despite featuring in only six of Australia's previous 14 Tests. Injury had kept the 35-year-old out of action for the past year, and there had even been uncertainty among Australia's selectors over whether he would get the nod ahead of Scott Boland for the series opener.

Once given the opportunity, however, Hazlewood underlined his quality as Australia's attack found it difficult to make inroads against Bangladesh on a favourable batting wicket.

His first major moment came in his opening over, when Nathan Lyon dropped Tanzid Hasan on nought. The missed chance proved expensive, with Tanzid going on to score a century. Hazlewood eventually ended a crucial stand between Tanzid and Mominul Haque on the second morning, getting Mominul caught behind as he attempted to drive a delivery on the rise.

With the second new ball, Hazlewood struck again, producing an outstanding delivery from around the wicket to have Najmul Hossain Shanto caught behind for 84. As Australia's bowlers began to tire in the heat on the third day, Hazlewood continued to provide breakthroughs. He dismissed Hasan Mahmud lbw after an earlier lbw appeal against Mehidy Miraz Hasan had been overturned following a review.

Extra bounce then brought about the dismissal of Taijul Islam, who edged the ball into the hands of Cameron Green at gully. After lunch, Hazlewood returned to complete his five-wicket haul and reach the 300-Test-wicket milestone, with Mehidy edging behind while attempting to drive on the up.

He finished with six wickets, completing his fourth six-wicket haul in Test cricket and his first in nine years. His final victim was Ebadot Hossain, who was caught behind to bring Bangladesh's innings to an end.

"They hung in there tough," Hazlewood said. "Yeah, it's pretty hard work out there on that track. We probably stuck it out; we didn't let the runs flow too quickly there at the end. It was just that Bangladesh hung in there nice and tough, and it was tough to get wickets out there, so it was a good effort."

List Of Australian Bowlers With 300+ Wickets:

• Shane Warne (708 wickets)
• Glenn McGrath (563 wickets)
• Nathan Lyon (567+ wickets)
• Mitchell Starc (433+ wickets)
• Dennis Lillee (355 wickets)
• Mitchell Johnson (313 wickets)
• Brett Lee (310 wickets)
• Pat Cummins (315+ wickets)
• Josh Hazlewood (300+ wickets)