Australia have squared their two-Test series against Bangladesh, winning the second Test at Mackay by an innings and 51 runs inside two days. Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets for the match, and Bangladesh were bowled out for 95 in their second innings on Sunday afternoon. The finish came at 3.08pm at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, which was hosting its first Test; the opening day had sold out, as ABC News reported.
Australia made 210 in their only innings of the match, after resuming at 165 for 8 on the second morning. Bangladesh had been bowled out for 64 on the opening day and then for 95 on Sunday, leaving the innings margin at 51 runs. Eighteen wickets fell on the first day. ESPNcricinfo recorded it as the fourth-shortest Test of all time and the second-shortest played in Australia, a match of 750 balls, a figure Cricket Australia also carried.
Starc’s Day and a Half
Starc’s first-innings 6-12 took him past Dale Steyn’s 439 Test wickets. It opened with the wicket of Shadman Islam from the first ball of the match, and Shadman was the second Bangladesh opener to be dismissed by the first ball of a Test. Starc added 4-39 in the second innings for a match return of 10-51, and he was named player of the match. Pat Cummins finished with three wickets in each innings, 3-25 and 3-10, and Nathan Lyon took 3-25 in Bangladesh’s second innings; he did not bowl in the first.
Bangladesh’s Part
Shoriful Islam’s 6-35 had Australia 165 for 8 at stumps on day one, after Bangladesh had been dismissed for 64. Taskin Ahmed removed Matt Renshaw for a duck, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed Alex Carey. The 64 was their fourth-lowest total in Test cricket.
The Pitch Argument
The surface drew the questions afterwards. “The wicket was pretty good. Not sure it should have been a two-day game,” Josh Hazlewood said. Nathan Lyon went further: “I thought that pitch was brilliant. I don’t think it was an 18-wicket day one pitch. Hats off to the curator.” Their comments were carried by Fox Cricket and ESPNcricinfo.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said the conditions brought “a little extra bounce and swing in the air” and declined to blame the surface. It was the third two-day finish in Australia’s past seven home Tests. Cricket Australia wants curators to favour batters after that run, and Mackay is unlikely to be sanctioned for the finish, as reported.
Before Mackay
Australia arrived at the second Test 0-1 down, four days after Bangladesh’s nine-wicket win in the first Test at Darwin. It was Bangladesh’s first Test victory on Australian soil, in a match played 13-16 August where Cameron Green made a century for Australia and Tanzid Hasan made one for Bangladesh, as reported by ESPNcricinfo and ABC News.
What Comes Next
The batting is the open question the result left behind. Australia’s top order failed in both Tests, in Darwin as well as Mackay, and Marnus Labuschagne’s place drew open questioning in the days afterwards, as reported. South Africa comes next, and the selectors will take those questions into it.
The Series, Levelled
Australia leave Mackay with the series level at 1-1. The pace attack answered the Darwin defeat, and the records from the match owe something to the surface it was played on. The batting order has answered nothing.
Sources: ESPNcricinfo, match report and commentary, Australia v Bangladesh second Test, Mackay, 22-23 August 2026; Cricket Australia, “Aussies romp to innings victory on second day”, 23 August 2026; BBC Sport, “Starc takes 10 wickets as Australia thrash Bangladesh”, 23 August 2026
Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mitchell Starc bowling for Australia against the West Indies at Perth Stadium in December 2022. Starc took 10 wickets for the match as Australia beat Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs at Mackay in August 2026; this photograph is from the 2022 Test.
