Sports23 August, 20262 min read
Mitchell Starc Leads Australia to Thrash Bangladesh by Innings and 51 Runs in Mackay
Mitchell Starc claimed 10 wickets in the match against Bangladesh. Australia won by an innings and 51 runs in Mackay.
Starc’s 10-51 blitz
Mitchell Starc took four wickets and finished with 10-51 as Australia thrashed Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs in the second Test at Mackay on Sunday, leveling the two-game series at 1-1. Bangladesh were bowled out for 95 in 38.3 overs at Great Barrier Reef Stadium after making 64 in their first innings, while Australia had been all out for 210 in reply to set a 146-run lead.
Starc’s spell followed a first-day collapse in Mackay where 18 wickets fell, with Australia reaching 165-8 at stumps on day one after Cameron Green made 51 and Nathan Lyon made 10. Shoriful Islam struck for Bangladesh with 7-48, and the match ended with Lyon wrapping up the tail in the first over after tea as Hazlewood skied Taijul to Shadman on six to leave Lyon not out 32.
Quotes and series context
After Australia’s nine-wicket loss in Darwin, Starc said, “Much better week. We knew we weren’t at our best, or what we expect of ourselves, in Darwin,” as he swept the Player of the Match and Series awards after finishing with 12 wickets at an average of 12.08.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said, “It was challenging for us. But as a team, if we want to go forward, we need to address these conditions, and I think this experience will help us moving forward,” describing the wicket as difficult with extra bounce and swing.
The match was played at Great Barrier Reef Stadium in Mackay, where Bangladesh were 39/3 by lunch and limped to 95/8 at tea before Lyon took the final two wickets in three balls straight after the teabreak.
The Guardian’s live coverage of day one described a surface with “bounce and some lateral movement,” as Shoriful Islam claimed 6 for 35 off 11 overs in his best-ever return in an innings.
Next tours and stakes
With the series squared at 1-1, Australia’s next challenge is a three-Test tour of South Africa in October, after which the sources also point to a broader packed schedule for the team. The Daily Star framed the Darwin result as a shift in how Test cricket sees Bangladesh, noting Bangladesh’s first Test on Australian soil in 23 years and their nine-wicket win in Darwin, while also pointing to the idea of a two-tier structure discussed by the ICC.
In that context, the Daily Star quoted David Hookes’ earlier column urging Steve Waugh to “send them in to bat, bowl them out before lunch,” and it also cited Pat Cummins saying Australia’s players had opted out of The Hundred because they had two Tests against Bangladesh. Devdiscourse reported that Shanto called on Australia and cricket authorities to arrange more test tours for Bangladesh’s growth, emphasizing the necessity of gaining experience in varied conditions after their series in Australia that included a nine-wicket victory in Darwin and a significant defeat in Mackay.