Australia vs Bangladesh Test: Mitchell Starc’s 6/12 Turns Historic High Into 64 All Out

Bangladesh were bundled out for 64 in Mackay on Saturday, just five days after scoring 426 and recording their first Test victory on Australian soil.

From 426 to 64 in five days. How deceiving and brutal can cricket be?

Mitchell Starc took 6/12 from 10 overs as Australia ripped through Bangladesh in exactly 34 overs. Shoriful Islam, their No. 11, top-scored with 14. The last-wicket stand of 25 was the biggest partnership of the innings.

Yes, it was that kind of scorecard.

0-0-9-0-5-0.

Look at those numbers again. They resemble a mobile number someone stopped typing halfway through. They were, in fact, the scores of Bangladesh’s first six batters in Mackay.

By early afternoon, Bangladesh had collapsed to 39/9 and were desperately chasing five runs to avoid their lowest Test total. That record, 43 against the West Indies in 2018, was staring them in the face.

They escaped it. Shoriful swung them past 43 and eventually carried Bangladesh to 64, their fourth-lowest Test total. You might think Australia merely bounced back after Darwin. They didn’t. They pounced on Bangladesh.

THE FIRST BALL SAID EVERYTHING

Starc did not need an exploratory over. He did not need to examine the pitch, test the breeze or work out what the ball might do.

He removed Shadman Islam with the first delivery of the Test. Shadman followed one outside off stump and Cameron Green completed the catch at second slip. One ball, one wicket. Australia had already announced the mood of the morning.

It was the fourth time Starc had taken a wicket with the first ball of a Test. It was also the ninth time he had struck in the opening over of a Test, moving him past James Anderson’s record of eight. Tanzid Hasan lasted two deliveries before edging Starc to Beau Webster. Najmul Hossain Shanto was trapped leg-before for a golden duck. Mominul Haque struck two boundaries and briefly threatened to disturb Starc’s rhythm. He made nine, which looked almost luxurious on this scorecard, before edging another lifting delivery to Green.

Litton Das was pinned leg-before for a five-ball duck. Bangladesh were 12/5. Starc had all five.

How quickly did he get there? Twenty-two balls. It was not even the fastest five-wicket burst of Starc’s career. He had needed only 15 deliveries against the West Indies in Jamaica in 2025. That is the Starc reality. He can produce a historically destructive spell and still leave you saying: yes, but remember the other one?

SIX OVERS, FIVE RUNS, FIVE WICKETS

Starc’s opening spell read 6-2-5-5.

There are spells that change matches. This one appeared to erase everything Bangladesh had achieved in Darwin. Mushfiqur Rahim tried to survive the wreckage. He occupied the crease for 42 balls but scored only five before Pat Cummins found the top of his middle stump.

At lunch, Bangladesh were 35/6 from 23 overs. The scoreboard still resembled that unfinished mobile number: 0, 0, 9, 0, 5, 0. Phil Simmons had warned his Bangladesh side about precisely this response. Before the Test, the coach told Reuters that Australia would return harder after the humiliation in Darwin.

Bangladesh knew what was coming. Knowing did not help. There was more bounce in Mackay than there had been in Darwin. A television graphic during the innings put the difference at an average of 12 centimetres. Bangladesh’s batters remained trapped between coming forward and hanging back. They poked away from their bodies, played uncertainly against the lift and allowed Starc’s angle to scramble both technique and judgment. Some of the bowling was unplayable. Some of the batting made it look even better.

FROM 35/6 TO 39/9

If Bangladesh hoped lunch might interrupt Australia’s momentum, the first few overs after the break corrected that assumption.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz drove away from his body and Webster produced a sharp catch at third slip. Cummins had his second. Hasan Mahmud then fell into a trap. Josh Hazlewood switched to around the wicket, Cummins placed Nathan Lyon at leg gully and Hasan immediately clipped the ball into his hands. Taskin Ahmed made one before a top edge gave Cummins his third wicket.

Bangladesh were 39/9.

Their three lowest Test totals were 43 against the West Indies in 2018, 53 against South Africa in Durban in 2022 and 62 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2007. For a few minutes, 39 sat on the scoreboard and threatened all three. Then Shoriful decided survival was overrated. He cut Cummins for four to take Bangladesh level with 43. Another boundary carried them beyond the record. He struck three fours in all, passed every specialist batter and reached 14. At the other end, Taijul contributed an unbeaten 11. Their 25-run stand did not rescue the innings, but it did drag Bangladesh from the brink of their lowest Test score to their fourth-lowest. Starc eventually returned and finished what he had started. Shoriful edged to Alex Carey, giving the left-armer figures of 6/12 from 10 overs.

Bangladesh were all out for 64. Only 12 previous Test innings had seen a No. 11 finish as the top scorer. Shoriful had just joined that wonderfully strange club. Wonderful for him, perhaps. For Bangladesh, it was an indictment.

AUSTRALIA HAVE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE

Australia losing a Test and responding with fury is hardly a new plot.

In the 1997 Ashes, England won the opening Test at Edgbaston by nine wickets after dismissing Australia for 118. Australia drew at Lord’s and then won three Tests in succession to retain the Ashes 3-2. In 2015, England beat them by 169 runs in Cardiff. Australia answered at Lord’s with a 405-run victory.

Go further back and you find the grandest comeback of them all. Australia trailed England 0-2 in the 1936-37 Ashes before Don Bradman scored 270, 212 and 169 in successive Tests. Australia won the series 3-2. More recently, India beat Australia by 295 runs in Perth in the opening Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia recovered to win the series 3-1.

That history does not guarantee a comeback. Cricket does not work like that. It tells you something about the Australian response to embarrassment, though. Defeat often does not leave them wounded for long. It makes them dangerous.

Bangladesh coach Simmons understood that. His batters experienced it.