Mitchell Starc needed 22 balls for the first five and ten overs for the lot: Starc six wickets for 12 runs, and Bangladesh bowled out for 64 on the opening day of the second Test at Mackay. ESPNcricinfo’s Mohammad Isam reported that the innings lasted only 34 overs and was over less than an hour into the second session — Bangladesh’s fourth-lowest total in Test cricket.
Pat Cummins won the toss at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, cricket’s newest Test venue, and put Bangladesh in. Starc had Shadman Islam caught at gully by Cameron Green off the first ball of the match, the fourth time he has struck with the opening delivery of a Test, and by the seventh over Bangladesh were 12 for five with four of the top six out for nought. Every one of those wickets was his. He finished with 6 for 12, passing Dale Steyn’s career tally of 439 Test wickets along the way, while Cummins took 3 for 25.
How The Starc Six Wickets Unfolded
“Caught in the gully first ball! Starc does it again!” ran ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary of the opening wicket, before Tanzid Hasan edged to Beau Webster at second slip and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto fell lbw on umpire’s call next ball. Only the lower order offered resistance: the last five batters made 47 between them, No 11 Shoriful Islam top-scoring with 14.
The rout answers the shock of Darwin, where Bangladesh won the first Test by nine wickets and Australia responded by dropping Jake Weatherald for Matt Renshaw. Australia had reached 45 for three in the ninth over of their reply when the Guardian’s live coverage updated at 5.40am BST, Steve Smith and Green at the crease. Mackay’s first Test is unlikely to be a long one.
