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15 hours ago
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Key events
7th over: Bangladesh 12-5 (Mushfiqur 2, Mehidy 0) Beau Webster breathes a huge sigh of relief. Mitchell Starc moves past Dale Steyn into tenth spot on the list of all-time Test wicket-takers. Bangladesh brace themselves for calamity.
WICKET! Das LBW Starc 0 (Bangladesh 12-5)
The next delivery Starc, desperate for a five-for, invites Cummins to review an LBW appeal after pinning Das to the crease with a fuller delivery, the perfect follow-up to the shorter lifter. Was there an inside edge? No. Did it pitch in line? Yes. Did it move too much? No? Did it bounce too much? No! Starc has five wickets in four overs!
DROP! Webster drops an absolute sitter! Short from Starc, off the shoulder of the bat and the ball lobs gently to Webster at third slip but the allrounder somehow spills the easiest of chances.
6th over: Bangladesh 12-4 (Mushfiqur 2, Litton 0) Mushfiqur gets off the mark with a couple through the offside but Hazlewood doesn’t allow him to settle, finding some extra bounce off a length to rap the right-hander on his gloves. That extra bounce counts against the New South Welshman at the conclusion of the over when a hearty LBW appeal is declined, presumably on height.
5th over: Bangladesh 10-4 (Mushfiqur 0, Litton 0) Mitchell Starc has 4/4 from 18 deliveries. Scintliating bowling, superb catching, and Australia are responding ferociously to last week’s humbling.
Crisis! What crisis?
WICKET! Mominul c Green b Starc 9 (Bangladesh 10-4)
Cummins has set his fields to invite the drive, leaving the V wide open. Starc honours his skipper superbly, curving the new ball away from Mominul’s grope on a perfect full length from the third delivery, then returning to the same line and length two balls later to entice the edge, Green doing the rest in the gully with an excellent low catch that requires DRS confirmation.
4th over: Bangladesh 10-3 (Mominul 9, Mushfiqur 0) Hazlewood is cruising in the low 120s kph so far, but his line and length is textbook, drawing Mushfiqur into a loose drive that lands just short of Webster at gully. He also slips in a bouncer that surprises the veteran, reminding him this surface is very different to the low slow front-foot track rolled out in Darwin.
3rd over: Bangladesh 9-3 (Mominul 8, Mushfiqur 0) Cummins’ call to field first has been vindicated inside three overs thanks to Starc’s incredible ability to find early wickets. All three dismissals were left-handers. Mushfiqur is the first right-hander in the middle and Starc struggled to readjust to the change of line following his arrival.
Starc’s hat-trick ball does not trouble Mushfiqur.
WICKET! Shanto LBW Starc 0 (Bangladesh 9-3)
Starc is on a hat-trick! His first ball to Shanto is fast and straight, beats the inside edge, thunders into the pads and looks very out. The Bangladesh skipper reviews but DRS again comes down Australia’s way despite an umpire’s call on the delivery only clipping leg stump. This is exactly the response Australia demanded after the Darwin humiliation. Starc has 3/4 from eight deliveries!
WICKET! Tanzid c Webster b Starc 0 (Bangladesh 9-2)
Starc has two! A yorker length delivery outside off stump has Tanzid jabbing an aimless prod with leaden feet and jarring a thick edge to Webster at third slip. The dismissal required DRS confirmation for the possibility of a bump ball but replays quickly confirmed Tanzid had to walk.
2nd over: Bangladesh 9-1 (Tanzid 0, Mominul 8) Josh Hazlewood shares the new ball and immediately finds some swing with the new ball back into Bangladesh’s left-handers from over the wicket. With that shape through the air the one that seams away off the deck becomes unplayable, which is what happens from the third ball of the over, beating Mominul around his off stump. Bangladesh’s first drop returns fire by whipping a half-volley off his pads for four through midwicket, but it was uppish and interested the flying Cummins at wide mid-on.
1st over: Bangladesh 4-1 (Tanzid 0, Mominul 4) After his pearler of an opening delivery Starc’s radar went a tad wayward, allowing Mominul to tickle a fine boundary off his pads to get Bangladesh up and running. Perhaps sensing the need to get through the crease more energetically the paceman ended the over by testing the middle of the pitch, extracting some appreciable pace and bounce that will please the home fans.
That is the fourth time Starc has taken a Test wicket with his opening delivery. In fairness it was only a 134kph loosener.
It is also the second time in a matter of days the opening ball of a Test has taken a wicket with Ollie Robinson on the money for England against Pakistan at Headingley.
WICKET! Shadman c Green b Starc 0 (Bangladesh 0-1)
Can Starc strike early? Is first ball early enough? Full and straight from over the wicket, drawing Shadman forward, catching the outside edge, and safe hands Green does the rest in the gully. Australia off to a flyer!
Mitchell Starc has the new ball at the top of his mark. Can he strike early?
The two teams are on the boundary for the Welcome to Country and national anthems. Mackay is bathed in morning sunshine and a healthy crowd is beginning to enjoy the relaxed surrounds and grass banks.
Bangladesh XI
Bangladesh have also made one change with rangy left-armer Shoriful Islam replacing Ebadot Hossain in the attack.
The XI selected will go in full of confidence, as skipper Shanto explained earlier this week. “When you score against this kind of team, it gives you a lot of confidence going forward when we play in these kind of conditions or against this kind of bowling attack.”
Shadman, Tanzid, Mominul, Shanto (c), Mushfiqur, Litton, Mehidy, Hasan, Taijul, Taskin, Shoriful.
Australia XI
Matt Renshaw is confirmed as the seventh opener auditioning to fill the void left by David Warner’s retirement in January 2024.
There was also serious consideration given to selecting Scott Boland ahead of Nathan Lyon. Had that occurred it would have been the first time in over a decade that Lyon had missed out in a red (not pink) ball match in Australia, and goes to show how the GOAT is no longer guaranteed a default spot in the Australian XI.
However, had Boland been selected it would have given Cummins six front-line seamers to choose from, including the two allrounders, which seems a very un-Australian way to pick a team and testament to the imperfect nature of this squad.
Head, Renshaw, Labuschagne, Smith, Green, Carey, Webster, Cummins (c), Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood
Australia win the toss and will bowl first
Pat Cummins won the toss, and in line with prematch discussions, reckons the pitch will offer the most with the new ball on day one, then flatten out and be ideal for batting on days two and three. He will hope his pace attack can exploit the extra bounce in the surface from the off and catch Bangladesh cold.
The pitch is expected to offer more bounce than Darwin, which will suit the extra height and pace in Australia’s attack, and provide the kind of challenge visiting batters often struggle to adapt to.
Groundsman Peter Kazakoff has noted “similarities” to the Gabba, a comparison Steve Smith also made after spending some time in the practise nets.
Bangladesh captain Shanto was unfazed by the possibility of a less favourable surface. “We have different plans. We are not going to play every single Test match in the same way. We try to adjust to the conditions. We try to focus on how they’re going to attack us, and prepare that way. We play differently in the subcontinent. Sometimes it depends on the conditions, the surface, and the bowling attack. So for the last Test match, the plan was that we need to be patient enough. We are not the most experienced side, so sometimes we just have to be patient.”
The weather forecast indicates we are in for up-to five days of glorious Queensland sunshine, with temperatures hovering around the mid-20s.
Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons has done a monumental job with this team, especially on the mental side of Test cricket. After convincing his side they could compete with Australia in Darwin his task is now to keep his players on task in Mackay.
“It’s a proud moment for all of the players - even ex-cricketers from Bangladesh. But it’s done; I think It’s gone. We need to play five days of good cricket again. This is a very important Test match for us to do well against this bowling and batting attack. We did a great job but we need to focus on this Test match and we have very much prepared ourselves for the last couple of days.”
Today marks the Test debut of the Queensland coastal town of Mackay, joining 11 previous men’s Test venues in Australia. Mackay is on the border of central and northern Queensland, and overlooks the Coral Sea.
The town’s sporting precinct was originally christened Harrup Park, with the cricket oval named in honour of long-time adminitsrator Ray Mitchell. However, since 2018 it has taken on the far more exotic title of the Great Barrier Reef Arena.
The maiden first-class match was played in 1995, but the second didn’t arrive for another 20 years. On that occasion New South Wales defeated Queensland in the Sheffield Shield but remains notable today for the match’s top scorer, young Bulls opener Matt Renshaw, who struck 170.
Geoff Lemon
Sport coverage is powered by hyperbole and recency bias, but the following statement is justifiable: Bangladesh’s defeat of Australia in Darwin is the most profound upset, the greatest revolt against the pre-game odds, in international cricket history. Australia’s win in England in 1882 so shocked locals that they published a cremation-themed obituary, but the same result had already happened four times on the other side of the world. Zimbabwe stunned India in 1998, but that was at least in the underdogs’ home conditions.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Welcome to live OBO coverage of the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh from the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. Play begins at 10am AEST.
As Australian sporting attention remains trained on the winter football codes the men’s cricket team somehow finds itself in the spotlight.
Last week they were comprehensively outplayed by Bangladesh in the first Test of what was expected to be an off-Broadway soft launch to an epic 12 month odyssey. By this time next year Australia will have touched down in South Africa, India, and England, with the conclusion of the 2027 Ashes expected to be accompanied by a host of retirements and a major changing of the guard.
Far from a regulation victory, Darwin proved catastrophic for the confident hosts. We will find out in Mackay if this was an undercooked side easing into its work or possibly the cause for greater concern.
Selectors saw enough to curtail Jake Weatherald’s international ambitions after just six Tests. The nearly 32-year-old opener averaged just 20 and demonstrated the kind of technical issues with his footwork and blade path that are ill-suited to being rectified in the glare of Test cricket.
Nearly 10 years after debuting as a 20-year-old, Matt Renshaw is the next cab off the rank to audition for the role of Australian Test opener.
Other names in the spotlight this weekend will be Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon. First drop turned 32 recently and hasn’t struck a century since 2023, since when he’s averaged 25 from 22 matches. Lyon, Australia’s spin-bowling lynchpin for 15 years, is almost 39 and increasingly familiar with the physio’s table. He underwhelmed on his return from a major hamstring strain, and is one of the few players to face serious competition for his place from outside the squad with Corey Rocchiccioli name-checked frequently by the former internationals on TV duty in Darwin.
