Quick hits: Shoriful beats Starc, Hazlewood upset

By Simon Smale

By Henry Hanson

Topic:Cricket

Starc and Shoriful were lethal on day one, while Hazlewood was unhappy with a mid-pitch collision. (Getty Images)

Two lethal left arm quicks combine for 12 wickets, Australia comes close to snaring the rarest of dismissals, and a Harrup Park specialist fails on his return to the team.

Here are the quick hits from day one of the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh.

1. Sensational Starc's first-ball strike

Mitchell Starc claimed a first ball wicket in both of this first two overs. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

We've seen this play before: Four times, in fact.

Mitch Starc steaming in, an opening batter studiously preparing for a lengthy stay at the crease, only to succumb to the very first challenge.

Shadman Islam was the unfortunate batter on this occasion, looking to clip Starc into the leg side but misjudging the pace and sending a leading edge to Cameron Green at gully.

He is, incredibly, the fourth batter to fall to Starc with the very first ball of a Test match.

Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne was his first such victim back in 2016.

England's Rory Burns was famously bowled around his legs at the Gabba in the 2021/22 Ashes series.

And then, in 2024 at Adelaide Oval, Yashavi Jaiswal was trapped LBW with a pink ball.

Oh, and he wasn't done there, either.

2. Starc's five-fa comes in just 22 balls

Mitchell Starc tore through the top order. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

Mitch Starc would not be contained or limited with just one wicket in his first spell.

Incredibly, he took five, tearing through the Bangladesh top order like a cyclone of ill-intent.

Shadman Islam's wicket was the only one to fall in the first over.

But in his second, he took two in the first two balls, accounting for Tanzid and Shanto in consecutive balls.

Mominul survived the first ball of the third over, but shouldn't have let down his guard as he fell later in the very same over to make it 4 in 3 for the big left-hander.

And then, in his fourth over, he made it five, Litton Das falling LBW for yet another duck, his five wickets coming in just 22 balls.

It should have been just 21 balls, had Beau Webster not shelled the sort of ball that you'd toss up to a toddler in the backyard.

It didn't matter though, Starc could not be contained, ending his six-over spell with figures of 5-5 and four maidens, leaving Bangladesh 5-15.

It was the sixth fastest five-wicket haul in Test history, but remarkably, it wasn't Starc's fastest in the format — that came in just 15 balls against the West Indies last year.

3. Obstructing the field?

Hazlewood was unimpressed with Taskin. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

Fans of obscure dismissals were almost gifted a rare instance of a player obstructing the field in the later stages of Bangladesh's batting innings.

Hazlewood came in and Taskin swiped across the line, sending the ball straight up in the air.

Hazlewood raced towards the ball, as Taskin took off for a run, before he then realised Hazlewood was baring down on him.

Taskin attempted to cover up, Hazlewood barged into him and the ball fell safe.

The crowd in Mackay felt aggrieved and there was more than a small suggestion of obstructing the field.

Hazlewood's eyes were in danger of having to be registered as dangerous weapons such was the ferocity of the daggers he was giving the unfortunate batter, as Pat Cummins engaged in a discussion with umpire Nitin Menon.

There was no appeal though that we could see, and Taskin was reprieved.

Only one player has ever been given out obstructing the field in Test cricket, Len Hutton for England against South Africa at The Oval in 1951.

Incredibly, later in the over, it appeared there was an (inadvertent) case of a double hit too as an attempted pull shot went awry.

4. Renshaw out cheaply on Test return

Renshaw was dimissed cheaply on his return to the Test arena. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

If Matt Renshaw could have chosen any ground in the world to make his Test return, it may well have been Harrup Park.

The Queenslander is the leading First Class run scorer at the venue, and is the only man to have scored two Sheffield Shield centuries in Mackay.

He's also coming off an impressive domestic summer, during which he scored three red-ball centuries at an average flirting with 50.

And it was under porcelain blue skies and in what looked to be perfect batting conditions that he made his way back to the Test-match crease, with the pitch having flattened out since Starc's new-ball demolition job.

The southpaw made an assured start to his innings, working a few attractive runs through the off-side, but it wasn't long before he was back in the sheds, having edged one into the slips.

Renshaw was out for 8 and Bangladesh, in desperate need of an early wicket after being bundled out for just 64, had their breakthrough.

5. Shoriful's dream day

The towering Shoriful made an instant impact at the bowling crease. (Getty Images: Albert Perez/Cricket Australia)

Forced to sit out the first Test with a side strain, exciting fast bowler Shoriful Islam wasted no time in making an impact in Mackay.

The 25-year-old left-armer is just that little bit quicker than his more workmanlike pace-bowling colleagues, and at over 190 centimetres tall, provides a different challenge in terms of release point.

Coming into the attack at first change, Shoriful took just two deliveries to claim his first Test wicket in Australia.

Pitching on a good length and seaming into Travis Head, the Australian opener was caught trying to play a shot that was never there, and was out chopping on for the third innings in a row.

Three balls later, and Shoriful had his second.

This time, he was aided by thigh pad rather than willow, with the ball rolling onto the stumps after thudding into Marnus Labuschagne.

Labuschagne was in disbelief, Shoriful was in dreamland, and Bangladesh was making a fist of things in Mackay.

And the towering left-armer wasn't done there.

First, he produced a beauty to dismiss Smith, who was well set on 42, LBW midway through the evening session.

Then, he tore through the Australian lower order, conjuring three more moments of magic to dismiss Beau Webster and Cummins for ducks, and Starc for 1.

Pratique d'écoute