Starc Takes 10 as Australia Crush Bangladesh Inside Two Days in Mackay
Australia beat Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs in the second Test in Mackay, a match that finished inside two days — the third time in the last seven Tests on Australian soil that a match has ended so quickly (The Guardian, 23 Aug 2026).
Mitchell Starc was the destroyer. He took 6-12 in ten overs on day one to skittle Bangladesh for 64, then added 4-39 in the second innings to finish with match figures of 10 wickets — the fourth time in his career he has reached that mark. Captain Pat Cummins chipped in with 3-10, and Nathan Lyon struck twice in three balls after tea on day two, leaving Mushfiqur Rahim stranded on 29 not out as Bangladesh were bowled out for 95 in their second knock.
It was the first-ever Test match played in Mackay, a tropical city in north Queensland more familiar with domestic one-day cricket than the five-day format. The pitch, clearly favourable to seam and bounce, produced carnage with the ball throughout.
Bangladesh did have one shining individual performance. Pace bowler Shoriful Islam took 7-48 in Australia's only innings — his career-best figures, and the best innings return by a Bangladesh bowler away from home, surpassing Taijul Islam's 7-138 in Harare in June. Shoriful's effort restricted Australia to 210, which turned out to be more than enough. That total was the fourth-lowest in Test history to secure an innings win — the margin by which a side wins without needing to bat a second time.
Cameron Green top-scored with 67, taking his series aggregate to 184, the best of either side. Lyon added a handy 32 with the bat lower down the order.
For Bangladesh, the batting never settled. Litton Das was dismissed for a duck in both innings. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto made 31 in the second innings, the nearest thing to resistance alongside Mushfiqur's unbeaten 29. Starc also dismissed Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque with successive deliveries in his second over on day two, putting him on a hat-trick for the second time in the match.
The result levelled the two-match series at 1-1. Bangladesh had won the first Test in Darwin by nine wickets, a result that made this the first time Bangladesh had beaten Australia in a Test on Australian soil. The share of the series, coming after a historic win followed by a thumping defeat inside two days, captured a tour of extremes for both teams.
For fans of the longer format, the Mackay Test was a reminder of how quickly a pitch-friendly surface can compress a match. A Test scheduled for up to five days was done in two — not because of poor batting alone, but because the ball, the bowlers, and the conditions aligned to make every session a contest between bat and a moving ball that held all the cards.
