Record storm on first day of Mackay Test, Starc-Shariful take 6 wickets

The first day of the Mackay Test saw incredible bowling action. 18 wickets fell in a single day. Australia's Mitchell Starc and Bangladesh's Shariful Islam both took 6 wickets each. Bangladesh's first innings ended at just 64 runs, and Australia was still in danger at the end of the day. One record after another was set on such an exceptional day.

Six wickets for two bowlers on the first day

Starc and Shariful have taken 6 wickets on the first day of Test cricket for only the fourth time in Test cricket history. Previously, Sydney Burns and Monty Noble had achieved the same feat in 1902, Aubrey Faulkner and Colin Blythe in 1907, and Frank Orrell and Bill Johnston in 1951.

Starc's new record with the first ball

Taking wickets with the first ball in Test cricket is not new to Starc. Taking wickets with the first ball of Bangladesh's innings at Mackay was his fourth first-ball wicket in Test cricket. Pedro Collins had previously held the record three times.

Starc now has 5 wickets in the first ball of any Test innings. Only New Zealand legend Richard Hadlee is ahead of him, with 6.

Starc's five wickets in 22 balls

Starc took 5 wickets in just 22 balls at Mackay. This is the sixth fastest five-wicket haul in terms of number of balls in Tests. The left-arm pacer also set the record for the fastest five-wicket haul by taking five wickets in just 15 balls against the West Indies last year.

Starc took five wickets in just 6.4 overs. Only one other five-wicket haul has been quicker in Tests—Stuart Broad took five wickets in 6.1 overs against Australia in Nottingham in 2015.

Shariful's record too

Shariful Islam took five wickets in just 8.5 overs for Bangladesh. This is the second fastest five-wicket haul for Bangladesh. Taijul Islam is at the top, having taken five wickets in 6.5 overs against the West Indies in 2018.

The biggest surprise among Shariful's six wickets was his batting. He scored the highest 14 runs in Bangladesh's first innings - only the second time in Bangladesh cricket that he became the team's highest run-scorer while batting at number 11.

Four of Bangladesh's first six bowled out

The most incredible aspect of Starc's onslaught was the collapse of Bangladesh's top order. Four of the team's first six batsmen failed to score any runs. Starc dismissed all four.

This is only the second time in Test history that four of the first six batsmen have been dismissed for ducks in the same innings. New Zealand's Nathan Smith had previously achieved such a feat against Ireland in May.

Bangladesh's lowest against Australia

Bangladesh set a new embarrassing record by being all out for just 64 runs. This is Bangladesh's lowest team total in a Test against Australia.

This is also the third lowest score in the first innings of any Test match in Australia by Bangladesh. South Africa's 36 and England's 45 were lower.

64 runs in Mackay's first Test innings set a new record in history—the lowest number of runs ever scored in a first Test innings at any venue.

Mackay's first ball history

The first wicket fell in Test cricket at the new venue, the Great Barrier Reef Arena. The first ball of a Test match at any venue in Test history had previously been seen in Jalandhar, Jaipur and Pallekele.

Overall, the first day of the Mackay Test was a rare display of bowling prowess. Starc's devastating spell and Shariful's extraordinary fight added several new chapters to the record books.