Left-arm pacemen Mitchell Starc and Shoriful Islam starred with six-wicket hauls as Bangladesh rallied from a dreadful start to pin back Australia on a roller-coaster opening day of the second test on Saturday.
Eighteen wickets fell on the bouncy Mackay wicket, with Australia limping to 165 for eight at stumps but holding a 101-run lead after blasting out the tourists for 64 in the first innings.
All-rounder Cameron Green, one of the few batters to stand up amid the carnage, was 51 not out, continuing his renaissance after scoring a century in Australia’s stunning nine-wicket loss in the series opener in Darwin.
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Tailender Nathan Lyon was 10 not out.
The recalled Shoriful took three wickets in five balls in the final hour to celebrate his first five-wicket haul in tests after missing Darwin with a hamstring strain.
He finished the day with 6-35, having helped drag Bangladesh back into the match after all seemed lost in the morning.
Swinging Starc
With Australia trailing 1-0 in the two-match series and under fire after the Darwin shock, captain Pat Cummins won the toss and put his quicks to work on a wicket prepared like a typical Gabba pitch.
Starc delivered with a brilliant display of swing bowling, taking 6-12, including the first five wickets in 22 balls.
The 36-year-old’s masterclass was the sixth-fastest five-wicket haul in tests. He also holds the fastest, having taken five in 15 balls against West Indies in Kingston last year.
His fifth wicket on Saturday, dismissing wicketkeeper Litton Das lbw for a duck, lifted him above South Africa’s Dale Steyn to 10th on the all-time test wickets list with 441 dismissals.
Starc’s final wicket — Shoriful for 14 — wrapped up Bangladesh’s innings just after lunch, but Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side hit back hard.
Shoriful led the way with 6-35, rattling through Australia’s top order.
He bowled opener Travis Head (22) and out-of-form number three Marnus Labuschagne (4), before trapping Steve Smith lbw for 42, ending a 77-run partnership with Green.
Ironically, Shoriful was also Bangladesh’s top scorer with the bat with 14 off 19 balls despite a short-pitched assault from fast bowler Cummins.
Shoriful took revenge on Cummins by dismissing him for a duck with a brutal bouncer that pinged off glove and shoulder for an easy catch behind the wicket.
“It felt great because he bounced me and hit my shoulder,” Shoriful said on the ground after stumps with a laugh.
Australia will hope to extend the lead on day two despite another concerning top order failure compounded by a middle order collapse.
Recalled opener Matt Renshaw, who replaced Jake Weatherald after his twin failures in Darwin, was caught in the slips for eight off the bowling of Taskin Ahmed.
Wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw away his wicket, caught for five trying to slog spin-bowling all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Carey’s dismissal triggered a collapse, with all-rounder Beau Webster out lbw for a duck as Australia lost four wickets for three runs.
Webster was one of six ducks for the day, which included four for Bangladesh in their early rout.
None of Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Shanto and Das troubled the scoreboard — all falling to Starc during his six-wicket blitz.
Cummins also came back strongly with the ball for Australia, taking 3-25 after managing only a single wicket in the Darwin shock.
Source: Khaleej Times