Evergreen paceman Mitchell Starc took four wickets and spinner Nathan Lyon three to propel Australia to a thumping innings and 51-run victory over Bangladesh in Mackay on Sunday as the hosts hit back hard after their humiliation in Darwin.
Left-armer Starc finished with match figures of 10-51 as Bangladesh crashed before tea on day two, bowled out for 95 in 38.3 overs at Great Barrier Reef Stadium in another batting disaster following their first innings 46.
With the two-match series split 1-1, Pat Cummins’s Australia responded well after the nine-wicket loss in Darwin and showed their ageing attack remains a force on a bouncy wicket.
“Much better week. We knew we weren’t at our best, or what we expect of ourselves, in Darwin,” said 36-year-old Starc, who swept the Player of the Match and Series awards after finishing with 12 wickets at an average of 12.08.
“What we expect of ourselves this week is what we got, particularly with the ball and the wicket that aided us with the ball.”
As emphatic as the victory was, it may do little to ease concerns about Australia’s batting before they meet the reigning World Test Championship winners South Africa on a daunting three-test tour in October.
Australia were bowled out for 210 in reply to Bangladesh’s 46, with Cameron Green (67) alone making more than 50 on what Lyon described as a good test wicket.
Wrecking ball Starc
Bangladesh needed 146 runs to make the hosts bat again but slumped to 39 for three by lunch and collapsed in the middle session, limping to 95 for eight at tea.
Starc, who took a stunning 6-12 in the first innings, was Australia’s chief wrecking ball again with 4-39.
He had opener Shadman Islam caught for one before bowling Mominul Haque for a duck in his second over.
He later had wicketkeeper Litton Das caught in the slips for a second successive duck and bowled tailender Taijul Islam for 11.
Captain Pat Cummins also finished strongly with 3-10, while Lyon captured the key wicket of Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for 31.
The spinner took the final two wickets in three balls straight after the teabreak to wrap up the match.
“A lot of things went right these couple of days and a lot of things went wrong last week,” said Cummins.
“We needed to bounce back and it was a great couple of days for the lads. I thought everyone was sharp.”
While Mackay saw Bangladesh crashing back to earth after pulling off one of test cricket’s greatest upsets in Darwin, the South Asian side leave their first test tour of Australia in 23 years with reputations enhanced.
Their recalled left-arm paceman Shoriful Islam took 7-48 in a Starc-esque display in Mackay, the best innings haul by a Bangladesh bowler in an away test.
The tall 25-year-old savoured the first “five-fer” of his test career and was beaming after the match as he swapped notes with Starc.
Bangladesh skipper Shanto said Mackay’s Gabba-style wicket was quite difficult for all batters and his team had struggled with its pace and bounce, having piled on 426 in their first innings on Darwin’s flatter pitch.
“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,” he said.