Mackay Test Among Shortest Ever After Just 750 Balls

The Australia vs Bangladesh Test in Mackay lasted just 750 balls across two days, making it the fourth shortest completed Test in history and the second shortest played in Australia by balls bowled.

MACKAY, Australia — The Australia vs Bangladesh Test in Mackay has entered the record books as one of the shortest completed matches in Test history, lasting only 750 balls across two days. The Mackay Test is the fourth shortest completed Test by balls bowled and the second shortest in Australia, while Mitchell Starc and Shoriful Islam also produced several individual bowling milestones during the extraordinary match.

• Key Highlights:
• The Mackay Test lasted 750 balls, the fourth shortest completed Test in history.
• It was the second shortest completed Test in Australia by balls bowled.
• Australia won by an innings and 51 runs after scoring 210 in their first innings.
• Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets in the match, while Shoriful Islam returned 7/48 in an innings.

Mackay Test becomes fourth shortest completed match

The two-day contest lasted just 750 balls, placing it fourth on the all-time list of the shortest completed Test matches by balls bowled. It was also the fifth Test in Australia to finish inside two days, with four of those matches coming during the last five seasons.

The shortest completed Test remains the South Africa-India match in Cape Town in 2023/24, which lasted only 642 balls. Australia’s match against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1931/32 lasted 656 balls, while the West Indies-England Test in Bridgetown in 1934/35 was completed in 672 balls.

Australia’s 210 ranks among lowest totals in innings win

Australia scored 210 in their first innings, which became the fourth lowest first-innings total by a team that went on to win a Test by an innings. Despite the modest total, Australia defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs.

The previous most recent instance of a team scoring 210 or fewer in an innings victory was Australia’s 199/8 declared against New Zealand in Wellington in 1945/46.

Bangladesh collapse produces unwanted record

Bangladesh were dismissed for 64 and 95 in their two innings, becoming only the fourth team since 1960 to be bowled out for fewer than 100 runs in both innings of a Test.

The other instances in that period involved England, who scored 82 and 93 against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1984, Pakistan’s totals of 59 and 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002, and Zimbabwe’s 59 and 99 against New Zealand in Harare in 2005.

Bangladesh’s combined total of 159 runs also became their lowest match aggregate in a Test, going below the 187 runs they scored against West Indies in North Sound in 2018.

Starc’s new-ball spell adds to remarkable record

Mitchell Starc continued his extraordinary record with the new ball by taking a wicket with the first ball of a Test for the fourth time, the most by any bowler. Pedro Collins previously held the record with three such dismissals, with Hannan Sarkar being the batter dismissed on each occasion.

Across 43 innings, Starc has now taken nine wickets in the first over of a Test, moving ahead of James Anderson’s eight wickets from 75 innings.

Starc needed only 22 balls to complete his five-wicket haul in the first innings, the sixth quickest five-for by balls faced where ball-by-ball data is available. His quickest remains the 15-ball five-wicket haul against West Indies in Kingston last year.

He completed his five-for in 6.4 overs, the third earliest a bowler has reached the milestone in a Test innings. Only Starc’s own 4.3-over five-for against West Indies in Kingston last year and Stuart Broad’s 6.1-over effort against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 were quicker.

Starc claims fourth ten-wicket Test haul

Starc finished the Mackay Test with 10 wickets, giving him four ten-wicket match hauls in Test cricket. That is the second most by a left-arm seamer, behind Wasim Akram’s five.

His 10 wickets came from just 20 overs, producing a match strike rate of 12 balls per wicket. Among 490 ten-wicket match hauls, it is the fourth best strike rate and the best recorded since 1913.

Shoriful’s 7/48 becomes Bangladesh seam record

Shoriful Islam’s 7/48 was the third best innings bowling performance by a Bangladesh player in Tests and the best by a Bangladesh seamer. He surpassed Shahadat Hossain’s 6/27 against South Africa in Mirpur in 2008.

The performance was also the best by a visiting seamer in Australia since Curtly Ambrose took 7/25 at the WACA during the 1992/93 season.

Starc and Shoriful join rare opening-day list

Starc and Shoriful also became only the fourth pair of bowlers to take six wickets on the opening day of a Test. The previous instances involved Syd Barnes and Monty Noble at the MCG in 1902, Aubrey Faulkner and Colin Blythe at Headingley in 1907, and Frank Worrell and Bill Johnston in Adelaide in 1951.

The Mackay Test ultimately combined a succession of historic numbers into one two-day contest: one of the shortest completed Tests ever, Bangladesh’s lowest match aggregate, a rare low Australian total in an innings victory, Starc’s exceptional 10-wicket haul and Shoriful’s finest Test figures as a Bangladesh seamer.

Praveen Yadav

Praveen Yadav is the Founder and Content Creator of The Nation Bulletin, an independent digital news platform focused on delivering timely, reliable and meaningful news from India and around the world.