Starc Strikes, Shoriful Replies: 18 Wickets Tumble on Chaotic Day One in Mackay
Mitchell Starc took a wicket with the first ball of the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay — for a record-breaking fourth time in his career — and finished with 6 for 12 as Bangladesh were skittled for 64 on a pitch that gave pace bowlers everything they wanted.
By the time Bangladesh's innings ended inside 34 overs, their total was the lowest by a team batting first in Australia since South Africa made 36 in 1932. The first three batters — Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto — all fell without scoring. Starc had figures of 4 for 4 off three overs at one stage, and his five-wicket haul, completed inside his first four overs, was the sixth-fastest in Test history, seven balls shy of his own all-time record of 15 deliveries against West Indies in Kingston. Pat Cummins, who won the toss and chose to field, chipped in with 3 for 25 (The Guardian).
For Starc, the day carried a personal milestone: his 441st Test wicket moved him to tenth on the all-time list, past South African great Dale Steyn. He also stands three wickets short of becoming only the third player to reach 400 combined wickets across Tests, ODIs and T20Is (Cricket.com.au).
If the morning belonged to Australia's bowlers, the afternoon belonged to a left-armer at the other end. Shoriful Islam, returning from a side strain that ruled him out of the first Test, took two wickets in his first over and finished with 6 for 35 — his best innings return in Test cricket.
He removed Matt Renshaw (8), caught at slip on the opener's first Test appearance since 2023, and then tore through the middle order. Steve Smith made 42 before being trapped leg-before-wicket — a review showed the ball just clipping the off-stump. Marnus Labuschagne made 4 before a delivery on leg stump hit his thigh pad and cannoned onto the stumps. Travis Head, on 22, chopped onto his own wicket for the third consecutive innings in the series. Shoriful then dismissed Beau Webster and Pat Cummins for first-ball ducks and cleaned up Starc for one, leaving Australia 165 for 8 at stumps — a lead of 101 (The Guardian).
Cameron Green, who scored 104 in the first Test in Darwin, was the one batter to find calm amid the chaos. Unbeaten on 51 at stumps, he held the Australian innings together on a surface where 18 wickets fell across the day at Great Barrier Reef Arena.
The series context sharpens everything. Bangladesh arrived in Mackay buoyed by a historic first-Test victory in Darwin, where Mehidy Hasan Miraz took five wickets and Bangladesh chased down their target to win by nine wickets — their first-ever Test win over Australia (Cricket.com.au; ESPNcricinfo).
Eighteen wickets in a single day of Test cricket is a rarity. That both sides suffered equally — Starc demolishing Bangladesh, Shoriful answering back — made day one in Mackay a contest between two bowlers at the top of their craft on a pitch that rewarded every inch of pace and movement.
