The second Test match between AUS and BAN has already seen plenty of action, with 18 wickets falling on opening day. Bangladesh were all out for just 64, their fifth-lowest total in the longest format of the game. The hosts managed to end the day on 165 for eight with a lead of 101 runs.
Mitchell Starc unleashed fury on the Bangla batters as the left-arm seamer grabbed 6 for 12 from ten overs. The 36-year-old got into action right from the first ball of the match when he had Shadman Islam caught by Cameron Green on the first ball of the game. In the process, the pacer achieved a huge record.
With the first-ball wicket of Shadman, Starc became the first bowler to achieve this feat on four occasions. Pedro Collins, the former West Indies left-arm pacer, had done this three times.
Geoff Arnold, the former English pacer, along with Sir Hadlee, Kapil Dev, and Suranga Lakmal, have done this twice. None of the Bangladesh batters had an answer for the Aussie bowlers, as they folded like a pack of cards.
Apart from Shadman Islam, his dismissals include former Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Rory Burns, and India’s young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal.
New South Wales star has also gone into the top ten all-time wicket-takers in Test cricket. He currently has 441 scalps and has surpassed Dale Steyn, who had 439 wickets.
Shoriful Islam’s six-wicket haul is part of rare cricketing history
The visiting side hit back thanks to Shoriful Islamwho picked up 6/35 with the ball. This was the fourth time two pacers took six wickets on the opening day of a Test match.
Others to achieve this were Sydney Barnes (ENG) and Monty Noble (AUS) in the 1902 MCG Test.
Aubrey Faulkner (SA) and Colin Blythe (ENG)- Leeds Test in 1907.
Frank Worrell (WI) and Bill JohnstonJohnston in theAdelaide Test played in 1951.
Both Starc and Shoriful also became the third left-arm seam pair to take six wickets in the same game. Apart from
Worrell and Johnston, Alan Davidson (AUS) and Brian Statham (ENG) had done the same during the MCG Test of 1958.
Finally, the Aussie is just two wickets behind James Anderson in becoming the bowler with the most dismissals in the first over of a Test match.
James Anderson – 29 wickets
Mitchell Starc – 28
Ray Lindwall – 7
Kapil Dev – 7
Richard Hadlee – 7