Dhaka, Aug. 13 -- Just a week ago, Bangladesh were bowled out twice in an innings defeat by a Cricket Australia XI, raising plenty of questions about how they would cope when the real Test began.

A start like this would have been difficult to imagine.

Bangladesh dismissed Australia for 198 on Thursday, then reached 96 for 1 by stumps on the opening day of the first Test in Darwin. They have already erased almost half of Australia's total and still have their middle order to come.

Hasan Mahmud set up the day with a career-best 6 for 55, while Ebadot Hossain and Taskin Ahmed took two wickets each.

Australia, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, were never able to build a substantial innings on a surface that had about 4 millimete...