Australia face Bangladesh in the first match of a two-Test series starting on Thursday in Darwin and the Baggy Green will be expected to win with plenty to spare against the Tigers.
The omens are bad for the tourists, who lost their only warm-up game by an innings and 38 runs to a Cricket Australia XI, being bowled out for just 54 in their second innings as Campbell Thompson took 8-25 in only his second first-class match.
Their bowling options are also hit by the absence of paceman Nahid Rana, who took 11 wickets in the 2-0 home series victory over Pakistan in May, while the Baggy Green have all of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon in their XI.
Australia v Bangladesh Tips Summary
Best Bet - Nathan Lyon top match bowler @ 7.00
Alternative Bet - Litton Das 50+ match runs @ 2.20
Bet Builder - Travis Head top 1st innings team batter, Bangladesh hundred in the match - No & Bangladesh highest individual score - Under 83.5 @ 11.00
Australia v Bangladesh Prediction
Best Bet: Nathan Lyon top match bowler @ 7.00
Najmul Hossain Shanto has an impressive eight wins from 19 Tests as Bangladesh captain, but this assignment looks far too tough for him and his teammates.
The Tigers may have beaten the Baggy Green in a Test match in 2017, but that series saw off-spinner Nathan Lyon excel and he can do so again here.
Lyon took 22 wickets across the two Tests just under a decade ago, claiming nine wickets in the 20-run loss in Mirpur, before taking a career-beat 13-154 in Chattogram in a seven-wicket victory which secured a drawn series.
Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill took seven wickets when these two sides met in Darwin back in July 2003 as the Aussies swept to an innings and 132-run victory and Lyon can enjoy himself at the same venue.
Alternative Bet: Litton Das 50+ match runs @ 2.20
While Bangladesh are expected to struggle badly, they can at least look to batter Litton Das for runs, with the in-form right-hander having recovered from a calf injury which looked like ruling him out of the tour altogether.
Das has plenty of experience with 54 Tests under his belt and his recent form with the bat has been top-quality, suggesting that he can put up some resistance against the outstanding home attack.
The 31-year-old has scored two centuries in his last five Test innings and in his last outing he contributed 126 and 69 to a 78-run series-clinching victory over Pakistan in Sylhet.
Australia v Bangladesh Bet Builder Tip
Travis Head top 1st innings team batter
Bangladesh hundred in the match - No
Bangladesh highest individual score - Under 83.5
Pays 11.00
Travis Head may have said that he still doesn't feel like a true Test opener, but his stats suggest that he is doing just fine at the top of the order, having made three centuries in the 4-1 Ashes series victory.
He has gone 16 Test innings since being dismissed for single figures and his last Test outing saw him make 163 in the first innings of the five-wicket victory over England at the SCG.
Bangladesh are going to find life tough in Darwin and their warm-up match collapse to 54 all out in their second innings suggests that an individual century in the match is unlikely.
The third part of this Bet Builder follows the same theme, with no batter for the tourists expected to go over the mark of 83.5 runs in an innings.
Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.
Key Match Stats
Australia have won five of the six Tests they have played against Bangladesh
The Baggy Green have won seven of their last eight Test matches
Nathan Lyon took 22 wickets in the two-match series in Bangladesh in 2017
Bangladesh defeated Australia by 20 runs in Mirpur in August 2017
The Tigers were bowled out for 54 in the second innings of their only warm-up game
Bangladesh have won four of their last five Tests but lost by an innings to Zimbabwe last time out
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
