Bangladesh were flying high after their historic win over Australia, but Mitchell Starc brought them crashing down to earth in stunning style on Saturday, August 22.
Australia had suffered a big 9-wicket defeat in the first Test of the series in Darwin and they needed a strong comeback. Mitchell Starc gave them exactly that. He started attacking from the very first ball of the match and did not give Bangladesh any chance to settle.
Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for a very low total of just 64 runs in 34 overs. The main damage was done by Mitchell Starc himself who took five wickets in less than four overs. Mitchell Starc’s fiery spell started with the first delivery of the Test. He got opener Shadman Islam out for a duck (0 runs). Next, Tanzid Hasan, who had scored a hundred in Bangladesh’s famous win in the last match in Darwin, also got out for 0. Then, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto also got out without scoring. In just 8 balls, Mitchell Starc had reduced Bangladesh to 3 wickets for only 4 runs.
Mominul Haque tried to fight back and scored most of the early runs for his team but Mitchell Starc came back and took his wicket as his fourth victim. Soon after, Litton Das also got out for a duck. That was Mitchell Starc’s fifth wicket. At that point, Bangladesh were in deep trouble at 12 runs for 5 wickets, and all the five wickets were taken by Mitchell Starc alone. Four out of his first five victims could not even open their score.
This amazing performance is now counted as one of the fastest five-wicket hauls in the Test cricket history. Mitchell Starc took only 22 balls to get his five wickets. Interestingly, he already holds the world record for the fastest fifer, when he took five wickets in just 15 balls against the West Indies in 2025.
In the entire history of Test cricket, only five bowlers have taken a five-wicket haul in less than 22 balls. Ernie Toshack against India in 1947, Stuart Broad against Australia in 2015, and Scott Boland against England in 2021 all did it in 19 balls. Shane Watson took 21 balls to take his five wickets against South Africa in 2011.
What a great performance by Mitchell Starc!
