Australia v Bangladesh second Test: Aussies bowling first in a bid to avoid an embarrassing series sweep
Australia were ambushed in Darwin to fall to a historic loss against Bangladesh; can their struggling batting group regroup to stave off a series sweep? Follow all the action live!
Cricket: Australia were ambushed in Darwin to fall to a historic loss against Bangladesh and now enter the Great Barrier Reef Arena with question marks over their experienced but aging squad.
Bangladesh will hold no fears after their historic Test victory and are looking to become the first-ever visiting team to whitewash Australia on home soil.
Follow all the action live!
Josh Kempton is reporting live.
Starc’s first-ball record
Mitchell Starc claiming the wicket of Shadman Islam was the fourth time he has made a breakthrough with the very first ball of a Test match.
He is now the sole owner of that record, having gone past former West Indies seamer Pedro Collins.
BAN 4-12
ANOTHER one for Starc!
Mitchell Starc is absolutely destroying Bangladesh in Mackay!
Mominul Haque is now on his way for nine after Cam Green claimed his second catch for the innings in the gully.
The chance was taken low to the ground, but third umpire Richard Illingworth eventually sent Bangladesh’s No.3 back to the pavillion.
The tourists have now lost four wickets inside the first half an hour, all to Starc, and are in all sorts of trouble.
BAN 4-10
Mushfiqur survives
Mushfiqur Rahim was able to survive Mitchell Starc’s hat-trick ball by leaving on length.
He also did not offer a stroke to the three remaining deliveries in the over.
BAN 3-9
Starc on a hat-trick!
Mitchell Starc has given Australia some sort of start in Mackay, and he’s now on a hat-trick!
He has now trapped Najmul Hossain Shanto lbw without scoring.
Bangladesh’s captain called for a review, with ball-tracking siding with the umpire to send him on his way for a golden duck.
BAN 3-9
Bangladesh’s Darwin centurion gone!
And now Bangladesh’s centurion from Darwin Tanzid Hasan is gone for a duck as well!
He hung around believing the ball may have gone into the ground before being taken by Beau Webster, but was proven wrong by a replay.
Mitchell Starc has given Australia the best of starts!
BAN 2-9
Hoff off
After claiming seven of his side’s 11 wickets in Darwin, Josh Hazlewood was not quite on the money in his first over in Mackay.
Bangladesh’s No.3 Mominul Haque chipped a catch in the area of Pat Cummins at wide mid-on, but the chance eluded Australia’s captain and went away for his second boundary.
BAN 1-9
Wicket very first ball!
Mitchell Starc has given Australia the PERFECT start with the game’s very first ball!
A late away-swinger drew a leading edge from Shadman Islam which was pouched by Cam Green in the gully.
Amazingly, that’s Starc’s 28th wicket in the first over of a Test innings.
BAN 1-0
Here we go!
We’re about to get under way in Mackay, with Mitchell Starc set to open the bowling for Australia.
He will be hoping to knock over Bangladesh’s openers Shadman Islam and Tanzid Hasan, the latter of whom made a fine century in Darwin.
BAN 0-0
Finch expecting bounce back
Channel Seven’s Aaron Finch has joined the commentary team for this game and he is expecting Australia to bounce back.
“I think that (Josh) Hazelwood will be an absolute handful. With this slight breeze going across the ground, that will help Mitchell Starc swing that new ball as well and we know how important he is and how destructive he can be when that ball swings,” Finch said.
“And it was interesting to hear Pat come and say, from a bowling point of view, that they need to be more destructive.
“The one thing that they can’t afford to do though is search. Once you start thinking, ‘I have to take wickets’, that’s when you can start leaking runs. That’s when you can be either too full or too short.
“They’ve just got to go back to what their basics are. They know what to do.”
State of play
After a disastrous result in Darwin last week, it’s fair to say this is a massive game for Australia.
With a calendar of as many as 21 Test matches coming up over the next 12 months, they will be desperate to bounce back from one of the poorest performances in living memory and at least square the series.
