AUS vs BAN: ‘You got to take it sometimes,’ Steve Smith admits he was lucky after controversial DRS call

Australia batter Steve Smith has admitted that he was lucky enough not to be dismissed early in his team's first innings on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh in Darwin on Thursday.

Steve Smith was batting on seven in the 21st over of the Australian innings when pacer Ebadot Hussain delivered a full-length ball wide of off stump, leading Smith to go for a tentative poke. As the ball went through to wicketkeeper Litton Das, Bangladesh appealed for a caught behind.

However, the umpire ruled it not out. Bangladesh opted for the DRS, and as soon as they did, Smith started walking back, believing he was out. However, there wasn't any major spike as the ball passed the bat, and Smith was deemed to be not out.

Steve Smith on his ‘lucky’ escape

Smith later acknowledged that he may have had a faint edge, although the technology did not provide enough evidence to overturn the original decision.

“I think so. Yeah,” Smith said when asked if there was an edge off the bat. "I was lucky? Yeah, it seems that way. You got to take it sometimes," he added. Smith then spoke on the usage of the technology, which was a talking point during the 2025-26 Ashes series.

That series saw repeated controversies over Australia’s use of Real-Time Snicko as part of the DRS. However, those incidents largely involved discrepancies between the visuals and audio spikes, rather than the flat-line reading seen in the Smith incident.

"Normally, it's [the technology] pretty good," the 37-year-old said. "Maybe I didn't nick it. I don't know. But I certainly felt something. If I'd been given out, I was going to walk off. But yeah, technology saved me today, I guess," he added.

Prior to the caught behind incident, Smith had already been given a lifeline when he was dropped by Tanzim Hasan Tamim at third slip. Smith made the most of those chances and eventually emerged as Australia's leading run-scorer on a difficult batting day. He scored 71, but received little support as Australia were bowled out for 198. Bangladesh were 96/1 in their reply at stumps on Thursday.

Earlier, Hasan Mahmud was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers as he finished with figures of 6/55.

This is Bangladesh’s first Test tour of Australia since 2003, when the Tigers suffered a 2-0 defeat. The second and final Test of the ongoing series will be played in Mackay from 22 August.