Mackay Test Ends In Two Days As Australia Level The Series

Australia beat Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs at Mackay on Sunday, closing out the second Test inside two days and levelling the series at 1-1. Mitchell Starc took ten wickets in the match. The Mackay Test lasted 30 wickets and 369 runs. It was over by the second afternoon.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 64 on the opening day. Australia replied with 210. Shoriful Islam answered Starc with 7 for 48, and Bangladesh batted again 146 behind. They were dismissed for 95. Mushfiqur Rahim was unbeaten on 29 from 80 balls.

Bangladesh had won the first Test in Darwin by nine wickets. That was the country's first Test victory on Australian soil. This result squares the tour.

Starc's first hour

Australia bowled first at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. Starc had five wickets inside 22 deliveries, the sixth-fastest five-for in Test history. He finished the innings with 6 for 12 from 10 overs. Pat Cummins took three. Bangladesh lasted 34 overs.

The second innings brought four more for Starc and ten for the match. Cummins claimed 3 for 10 as the tourists folded again. Bangladesh were dismissed twice inside two days, neither innings reaching three figures.

Shoriful answers with seven

Shoriful Islam produced the best bowling of the match. His 7 for 48 was reported as the best return by a Bangladesh bowler in a Test away from home. He swung the ball both ways from the start. The ICC's report of the day had Australia 41 for 3 before Steve Smith and Cameron Green added 77 for the fourth wicket.

Australia still reached 210. That gave them a lead of 146. Bangladesh had bowled well enough to stay in the match and batted themselves out of it twice.

Thirty wickets in two days

The collapse is easiest to read in the totals:

• Bangladesh 64 all out in 34 overs, Starc 6 for 12
• Australia 210 all out, Shoriful Islam 7 for 48
• Bangladesh 95 all out, Cummins 3 for 10
• Australia won by an innings and 51 runs

Eighteen of those wickets fell on the opening day alone. Three completed innings produced 369 runs between them. Starc and Shoriful took 17 of the 30 wickets on their own.

Mackay's first Test match

The Great Barrier Reef Arena was staging Test cricket for the first time. The north Queensland ground became Australia's twelfth Test venue at the toss on Saturday. Its debut lasted two days.

Pace and seam movement decided the match. Both attacks used the surface. Neither batting side handled it. The venue now holds a Test record of one match and one result.

Series shared at 1-1

Bangladesh arrived in Australia without a Test win there and leave with one. Australia lost a home Test to Bangladesh for the first time in Darwin, then answered it in Mackay. Both matches counted towards the 2025-27 World Test Championship.

Bangladesh go home with a drawn series and a first win on Australian soil. Australia end the tour with a ten-wicket match haul from Starc. Neither side will want to talk about the batting.