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After a poor outing with the bat, a sensational six-wicket haul by pacer Shoriful Islam helped Bangladesh fight back, ending the first day of the second Test against Australia at Mackay on Sunday on a high.
At the end of day one, Australia was 165/8, with Cameron Green (51*) and Nathan Lyon (10*) unbeaten. They were leading by 101 runs against Bangladesh, who were skittled out for 64 in the first innings. Australia won the toss and elected to field first. Mitchell Starc struck Bangladesh with a vengeance after the embarrassment of the loss at Darwin, taking five wickets in the first seven overs and reducing Bangladesh to 12/5. Starc started the innings with the first-ball wicket of Shadman Islam for a duck, registering the ninth instance of a first-over wicket in Tests, surpassing England legend James Anderson (eight such instances). Bangladesh was 35/6 at the end of the first session. Starc's fifer was a brutal one, as none of the batters could touch double figures, and four of them, Shadman, Tanzid, Shanto and a returning Litton Das, could not even open their account. Further impetus from skipper Pat Cummins (3/25) caused them to collapse to 39/9. However, Bangladesh avoided the embarrassment of being bowled out for their lowest-ever Test total (their lowest being 43 against West Indies in 2018). Instead, they were skittled out for just 64, with Starc getting a sensational 6/12 in 10 overs. Shoriful Islam (14) was the top-scorer for Bangladesh, with three batters touching three figures. Starc also went past South African legend Dale Steyn (439 wickets) and became the 10th-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 441 wickets at an average of 26.27, with 19 five-wicket hauls and three ten-fers and best figures of 7/58. However, at the end of the tea break, Australia was 50/3, with Steve Smith (6*) and Cameron Green (1*) unbeaten. Travis Head (22), Matt Renshaw (8) and Marnus Labuschagne (4), with Shoriful Islam (2/6) and Taskin Ahmed (1/26) reducing Australia to 41/3. In the final session, Green and Steve Smith (42 in 74 balls, with six fours) got Australia past the 100-run mark, stitching a 77-run stand. However, Shoriful (6/35) reduced Australia to 148/8 with a magnificent six-fer, with Green and Lyon standing unbeaten to end the day. Brief Scores: Australia: 165/8 (Cameron Green 51*, Steve Smith 42, Shoriful Islam 6/35) vs Bangladesh: 64 (Shoriful Islam 14, Taijul Islam 11*, Mitchell Starc 6/12). (ANI)
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