Mehidy Hasan Miraz takes 3 wickets to have Australia on the ropes at lunch on Day 4 of 1st test

DARWIN, Australia (AP) — Mehidy Hasan Miraz spun Bangladesh to the verge of a famous victory as he claimed three wickets to have Australia at 243-7 at lunch on Day 4 of the first cricket test.

Resuming Sunday at 161-4, Australia added 82 runs for the session to avoid the ignominy of a home innings defeat to take a 15-run lead at the interval.

Only Cameron Green provided concerted resistance to the Bangladesh attack as he notched his eighth test half century, and highest score in Australia, on his way to 85 not out.

Mitchell Starc was 14 not out at the break, sharing a 36-run partnership with Green in what is likely Australia's last hope of turning the tide of the match.

But the result appears only delayed after another session where Bangladesh again comprehensively outplayed its more-fancied hosts.

Mehidy (4-50), who also claimed the wicket of Steve Smith late on Day 3 to turn the match decisively toward Bangladesh, picked up where he left off Sunday having Alex Carey (30) expertly caught behind by Litton Das.

Mehidy then produced a superb delivery that straightened past the bat of Beau Webster (5) and clipped the top of off stump to have Australia at 6-193, still trailing by 35 runs and with the tail exposed.

Pat Cummins' (8) stay was brief as he offered a catch to Hasan Miraz at short leg to give Mehidy his third wicket of the morning.

Starc and Green helped Australia erase the deficit in the half hour before lunch, with Green looking settled at the crease as the allrounder approached a possible third test century and first on home soil.

History is against Australia flipping this game on its head and claiming a miracle victory. The largest first-innings deficit Australia has come back from to win a home test was 206, when it trailed Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2010. The deficit here was 228 runs.

The two-test “Top End” series starts a heavy 12-month schedule for the Australians that will feature 20 test matches, including tours to South Africa, India and England.

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

Cameron Green of Australia gestures after reaching 50 runs during play on day four of the first cricket test against Bangladesh in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Cameron Green of Australia bats during play on day four of the first cricket test against Bangladesh in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Alex Carey of Australia walks from the field after being dismissed during play on day four of the first cricket test against Bangladesh in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Beau Webster, right, of Australia reacts after being dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh during play on day four of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh celebrates after dismissing Beau Webster of Australia during play on day four of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Hawaii’s Big Island was threatened Saturday with its first possible direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years as Hurricane Lala roared in the Pacific Ocean and gusty wind, waves and rain pounded the region.

The National Hurricane Center said Lala’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph (120 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane. The storm's center was forecast to move over or near the island’s southern end by the evening, lashing its worst winds at volcanic slopes thousands of feet above sea level.

Whitecap surf slammed ashore nonstop, howling winds whipped the tops of palm trees, and waterways swelled with fast-moving runoff from relentless rain that blew nearly sideways.

Gov. Josh Green, noting rainfall of 2 inches (5 centimeters) an hour, said “people should be sheltering in place now.”

Forecasters said higher elevations on the island, dominated by the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could get as much as 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain. That could cause life-threatening mudslides in a mountainous area where people live off the grid in improvised housing.

Earlier the governor called it an “enormous storm,” capable of destructive flooding and even the possibility of wildfires kicked up by strong winds across the island chain. Electricity was knocked out for 32% of customers on the Big Island, according to poweroutage.us.

The island, population 210,000, is Hawaii's largest.

Bobby Camara, a 75-year-old lifelong resident, said he planned to “hunker down, cross my fingers, hope the lights don’t go out” at a care home just outside Hilo. He said gas stations were busy as people sought fuel for chain saws and vehicles.

“I think stocking up is part of life over here. ... You learn to be self-reliant,” Camara said.

Mike Caputo, who lives in Keaau, near the Big Island's east coast, said his power generator was ready and a 10,000-gallon (37.8 kiloliter) home water tank was full. He said the main concern was flash flooding and fallen trees, especially albizia, a common tree.

“They’re not very sturdy, but they grow extremely large,” said Caputo, 50, a local fire captain. “They can make roads impassable."

The Big Island was under a hurricane warning, and tropical storm warnings were issued for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau.

A Category 3 hurricane hit the northeast corner of the Big Island in 1871, according to research by a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist. The latest forecast has Lala striking “very close to the southern tip of the Big Island,” said Vanessa Almanza, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.

Shelters were opened, events were canceled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures, rather than structures that might collapse. “It doesn’t take landfall to create destruction,” Almanza said.

Indeed, Christine Matsuda, who lives in Waimea, on the northern side of the island, said “big gusts every few minutes rattle the whole house.”

“We're finding unexpected leaks in places that don't see water under normal conditions,” Matsuda said.

The hurricane center predicted 8 to 12 inches (20.3 to 30.5 centimeters) of total rainfall across Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island, and 4 to 6 inches (10.2 to 15.2 centimeters) across the island chain. Many Hawaii residents are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating floods in March.

As winds ramped up across the islands, Almanza said dry and breezy conditions outside the storm would elevate fire concerns.

In 2023 the Maui town of Lahaina burned during extreme winds as a hurricane passed far to the south.

“Since the fire, everybody is way more aware of weather in general and our environment and things that are happening,” said Archie Kalepa of Lahaina, who is known in the area for his surfing, paddling and other ocean skills.

Kauai, which is several islands northwest up the archipelago from the Big Island, is where Hurricane Iniki made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in 1992 — an El Nino year like this one, when a warming of the Pacific near the equator increases Pacific hurricane activity and affects weather patterns across the globe.

“It did $3 billion worth of damage. It destroyed thousands of homes, and it did kill six people,” said Green, the governor. “We just can never know if a storm is going to turn.”

Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed.

This story has been correctly attribute the quote about damage from Hurricane Iniki. It was said by Gov. Josh Green, not Steven Businger.

A resident carries supplies to a vehicle during Hurricane Lala in Hawaiian Ocean View, Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A resident carries supplies during Hurricane Lala in Hawaiian Ocean View, Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A view of the rising water levels at the Wainaku Street Bridge in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Taylor Cozloff/Civil Beat via AP)

A vehicle drives near a downed utility pole dangling above Mamalahoa Highway during Hurricane Lala near Ocean View, Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

People walk along a path at Waikoloa Beach Resort as Tropical Storm Lala strengthened on the Big Island of Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Sandbags are seen at a Hawaii County Department of Public Works sand pile ahead of Tropical Storm Lala in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The tropical storm is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches Hawaii, with up to 25 inches of rain possible on the island of Hawaii, also commonly known as the Big Island. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Casey Delaries makes a sandbag in preparation for Tropical Storm Lala in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The tropical storm is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches Hawaii, with up to 25 inches of rain possible on the island of Hawaii, also commonly known as the Big Island. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Shaheer Faltas, left, and his father-in-law, Joe Brosnan, fill sandbags in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Storm Lala in Captain Cook, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

This satellite image released by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Lala over the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (NOAA via AP)