Australia hit back after Darwin defeat

Eighteen wickets fell on a sensational opening day in Mackay as left-arm seamers stole the show in the maiden Test at the coastal Queensland venue. Days after a stunning nine-wicket defeat in Darwin, Australia responded in the most emphatic fashion, bowling Bangladesh out for 64 – their fourth-lowest Test total – before surviving their own dramatic collapse to lead by 101 runs at stumps.

Starc strikes with the first ball

Pat Cummins won the toss and had no hesitation sending Bangladesh in. Mitchell Starc barely paused for breath from there. He struck with the very first ball of the match, nicking off Shadman Islam at gully. It was the fourth time Starc has taken a wicket with the first ball of a Test innings, after dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne, Rory Burns and Yashasvi Jaiswal in previous matches, and the ninth time he had taken a wicket in the first over of a Test.

That ninth first-over wicket moved him past England’s James Anderson, who had eight such dismissals. Shadman became only the second Bangladesh opener to be dismissed off the first ball of a Test innings after Hannan Sarkar, who suffered the same fate three times against West Indies fast bowler Pedro Collins.

Wickets tumbled in clusters with four of the top six falling without scoring, and Bangladesh were reduced to 12 for 5 inside seven overs. Starc’s pace and shape with the new ball left the batters with no answers, and he had run through five of them in the space of 22 balls before Mushfiqur Rahim’s resistance denied him a hat-trick.

Starc took five wickets inside the first 45 minutes as Bangladesh slipped to 12 for 5 before reaching lunch at 35 for 6. It was the sixth-fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He picked up his second wicket in his next over when Tanzid Hasan guided the first ball to Beau Webster at second slip. Tanzid, who scored a century in the previous Test, registered his second consecutive duck. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was trapped lbw with the very next ball, surviving a review on umpire’s call. Mominul Haque soon became Starc’s fourth wicket after edging a wide delivery to Cameron Green at gully, and Litton Das was given out lbw for a duck after a review by Kumar Dharmasena with TV umpire Richard Illingworth confirming.

Bangladesh all out for 64

A brief rally through the middle of the innings saw Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Hasan Mahmud see out the first session as Bangladesh limped to 35 for 6 at the break, but the respite did not last. Cummins struck twice more after lunch while Josh Hazlewood chipped in with a wicket of his own, and Starc returned to finish the job, mopping up the tail to complete a stunning 6 for 12 from 10 overs.

The haul carried Starc past South African great Dale Steyn’s 439 Test wickets. With 441 wickets, Starc is now the 10th-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. Bangladesh were bowled out in just 34 overs, their innings done and dusted less than an hour into the second session, with only a defiant knock from the tail lifting them clear of their all-time lowest score of 43 against West Indies in 2018.

Australia stumble as Shoriful strikes

Australia’s reply seemed serene enough initially despite failures for the returning Matt Renshaw, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne. Steven Smith and Cameron Green made batting look almost simple on a surface that had wreaked havoc all morning, working the gaps with soft hands and cashing in on anything short or straight to push the scoring rate past five an over. The pair put on 77 for the fourth wicket off just 108 balls.

Then came Shoriful Islam. Having already top scored in the Bangladesh innings with 14 and then accounting for Head and Labuschagne, the left-armer found the same discipline and shape that had brought Starc his rewards earlier in the day, and he made the breakthrough that mattered most, trapping Smith lbw for 42 right on the drinks break in the final session.

What had been a comfortable day for Australia disintegrated into chaos. Alex Carey charged out and miscued a length ball to mid-on to leave Australia 145 for 5. They then lost 3 for 3 as Shoriful sent back Beau Webster and Pat Cummins for ducks before fittingly cleaning up Starc to match his six-fer. Shoriful finished with 6 for 35.

Through it all, one man stood unmoved. Cameron Green batted with the same clarity and calm that he appeared to have discovered in that return-to-form century in Darwin. His unbeaten 51 was a genuine gem carved out on a pitch that had offered demons to virtually every other batter who walked out to face it. His resistance ensured Australia closed the day 165 for 8, a lead of 101 runs.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 64 (Shoriful Islam 14; Mitchell Starc 6-12, Pat Cummins 3-25) trail Australia 165/8 (Cameron Green 51*, Steve Smith 42; Shoriful Islam 6-35) by 101 runs.