Starc and Islam take 6 wickets each in a wild 1st day of the 2nd Australia-Bangladesh cricket test

MACKAY, Australia (AP) — Mitchell Starc removed Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam with the first ball of the match and the veteran Australian fast bowler took six wickets in the first innings on a wild first day of the second cricket test Saturday.

Later, Shoriful Islam incredibly matched Starc’s total with a six-wicket haul on a day which saw 18 wickets fall. The left-arm Bangladesh fast bowler has recovered from a side strain that kept him out of the first test.

After Australia won the toss and decided to bowl, with captain Pat Cummins suggesting “the wicket looks pretty good, but if there is any moisture in it, it might be this morning.” Starc proved Cummins correct and Bangladesh was bowled out for 64 runs shortly after lunch.

The wicket, however, continued to be a challenge for batters well beyond the morning.

In reply, Australia was 165-8 at stumps to lead by 101 runs despite Shoriful Islam’s 6-35 total. Cameron Green was one of the not-out batsmen on 51 with Nathan Lyon on 10.

Shadman Islam was caught in the gully off a leading edge to give Starc his record fourth career wicket on the first ball of a match. Starc removed Tanzid Hasan and had captain Najmul Hossain Shanto caught lbw in the third over to leave Bangladesh, which surprisingly won the first test of the two-test series, reeling.

Starc got his fourth wicket when Cameron Green made a grass-top catch to remove Mominul Haque for 9, the only Bangladesh batter to score a run among the first four batters Saturday. His fifth wicket came when he had Litton Das trapped lbw and his sixth after lunch.

Starc’s figures were 6-12 in 10 overs and Cummins finished with three wickets. The Bangladesh total was the lowest while batting first in Australia since 1932 when South Africa was dismissed for 36.

The highest Bangladesh score was by No. 11 batter Shoriful Islam with 14.

“Six (wickets) in the first session, can’t beat that,” Starc told his wife, television commentator and former Australia captain Alyssa Healy while walking off the field at lunch. “Obviously a little bit of anger.”

Australia announced a 13-man squad earlier this week, with only one change for the second test. It dropped Jake Weatherald and recalled Matt Renshaw, who opened the batting but was out for 8 early in the Australian innings.

The match began under sunny skies at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, a coastal city in Queensland state about 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the capital Brisbane.

Bangladesh’s first test win in Australia put pressure on national cricket selectors for an overhaul, but the bulk of the aging squad was retained despite being outplayed in Darwin, where the likes of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Hasan made the most of the tropical conditions.

The two-test “Top End” series starts a heavy 12-month schedule for the Australians that will feature 20 test matches, including tours to South Africa, India and England.

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