Mitchell Starc needed 22 deliveries to take five wickets and 34 overs was all Bangladesh lasted, yet Australia still ended the opening day of the second Test in Mackay with more questions than answers. Bangladesh were bowled out for 64 — their fourth-lowest total in Test cricket — after Pat Cummins won the toss and bowled at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. Australia then slumped to 165 for 8 in reply, Shoriful Islam taking 6 for 35 on his first tour of the country, and closed with a lead of just 101.
Eighteen wickets fell on the first day, the third-highest haul in a day’s Test cricket in Australia since 1975. Cameron Green, unbeaten on 51 with eight boundaries, was the only batter on either side to pass 42.
Starc’s 22-ball demolition
Starc’s opening spell was as destructive as anything he has produced in a home Test. He removed Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das without any of them scoring, reaching his five-wicket haul in 22 balls — the sixth-fastest in Test history — and finishing with 6 for 12. Bangladesh were 12 for 5 inside the first hour.
Cummins backed him with 3 for 25 and Josh Hazlewood took 1 for 18 on a surface prepared with Gabba-style bounce and carry. Mominul Haque made nine, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 11, Hasan Mahmud eight. The top score was 14, from Shoriful at No. 11.
That last detail mattered. At 39 for 9, Bangladesh were staring at a total lower than any they had made in a Test. Taijul Islam and Shoriful added 25 for the final wicket to lift them to 64 — a stand that looked cosmetic at the time and considerably less so by stumps.
The haul took Starc past Dale Steyn and into 10th place on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers with 441.
Shoriful answers with six of his own
Australia’s reply began badly and never fully recovered. Matt Renshaw edged to slip for eight, Travis Head chopped on for 22 and Marnus Labuschagne was bowled for four. At 50 for 3 at tea, a total of 64 no longer looked quite so absurd.
Steve Smith and Green repaired it with 77 for the fourth wicket, Smith making 42 before he was trapped lbw. From there Shoriful ran through the lower order. Beau Webster and Cummins both fell first ball, lbw and caught respectively; Alex Carey made five in his 50th Test; Starc was bowled for one. Six for 35 is Shoriful’s maiden five-wicket haul in Tests, delivered in his first match on Australian soil.
Green’s unbeaten fifty, following his 104 in Darwin, was the clearest evidence that the pitch was not the villain. He drove and pulled with control while wickets fell around him, and resumes on day two with Nathan Lyon (10 not out) for company.
A batting problem that is now a pattern
Australia arrived in Mackay 1-0 down after one of the great upsets in Test history. Bangladesh won the Darwin Test by nine wickets inside four days — their first Test victory in Australia, achieved in only their third attempt and on their first visit to the country in 23 years. Mehidy took a five-for, Hasan Mahmud was named player of the match, and Mominul hit the winning runs chasing 57.
The common thread across both Tests is Australia’s batting, not their bowling. The scores now read 198, 284 and 165 for 8. Their attack has taken 20 wickets in Darwin and 10 for 64 here; the batting has failed to build on any of it.
- Australia’s three completed innings this series have produced one century — Green’s in Darwin.
- Labuschagne has now gone 43 innings without a Test hundred. Ricky Ponting was blunt: “It has been way too long now. It is well and truly time to have a look at someone else.”
- Four of Australia’s top six fell for single figures on a pitch where Green scored freely.
With the Ashes on the horizon, that is the selection headache no amount of fast bowling can disguise. A lead of 101 with two wickets standing should still be decisive against a side dismissed for 64, and Australia will expect to level the series here. But Shoriful’s spell showed the same conditions cut both ways, and Bangladesh have already demonstrated once this month that they are capable of finishing what they start.
Day two begins with Australia looking to push their lead beyond 150 — and with the uncomfortable knowledge that on this ground, on this surface, no total yet looks safe.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
648 articles published
