Starc and Islam take 6 wickets each in a wild 1st day of the 2nd Australia-Bangladesh cricket test

MACKAY, Australia (AP) — Mitchell Starc removed Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam with the first ball of the match and the veteran Australian fast bowler took six wickets in the first innings on a wild first day of the second cricket test Saturday.

Later, Shoriful Islam incredibly matched Starc's total with a six-wicket haul on a day which saw 18 wickets fall. The left-arm Bangladesh fast bowler has recovered from a side strain that kept him out of the first test.

After Australia won the toss and decided to bowl, with captain Pat Cummins suggesting “the wicket looks pretty good, but if there is any moisture in it, it might be this morning.” Starc proved Cummins correct and Bangladesh was bowled out for 64 runs shortly after lunch.

The wicket, however, continued to be a challenge for batters well beyond the morning.

In reply, Australia was 165-8 at stumps to lead by 101 runs despite Shoriful Islam's 6-35 total. Cameron Green was one of the not-out batsmen on 51 with Nathan Lyon on 10.

Shadman Islam was caught in the gully off a leading edge to give Starc his record fourth career wicket on the first ball of a match. Starc removed Tanzid Hasan and had captain Najmul Hossain Shanto caught lbw in the third over to leave Bangladesh, which surprisingly won the first test of the two-test series, reeling.

Starc got his fourth wicket when Cameron Green made a grass-top catch to remove Mominul Haque for 9, the only Bangladesh batter to score a run among the first four batters Saturday. His fifth wicket came when he had Litton Das trapped lbw and his sixth after lunch.

Starc's figures were 6-12 in 10 overs and Cummins finished with three wickets. The Bangladesh total was the lowest while batting first in Australia since 1932 when South Africa was dismissed for 36.

The highest Bangladesh score was by No. 11 batter Shoriful Islam with 14.

“Six (wickets) in the first session, can't beat that,” Starc told his wife, television commentator and former Australia captain Alyssa Healy while walking off the field at lunch. “Obviously a little bit of anger."

Australia announced a 13-man squad earlier this week, with only one change for the second test. It dropped Jake Weatherald and recalled Matt Renshaw, who opened the batting but was out for 8 early in the Australian innings.

The match began under sunny skies at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, a coastal city in Queensland state about 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the capital Brisbane.

Bangladesh’s first test win in Australia put pressure on national cricket selectors for an overhaul, but the bulk of the aging squad was retained despite being outplayed in Darwin, where the likes of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Hasan made the most of the tropical conditions.

The two-test “Top End” series starts a heavy 12-month schedule for the Australians that will feature 20 test matches, including tours to South Africa, India and England.

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

Mitchell Starc of Australia appeals unsuccessfully for a wicket during play on day two of the first cricket test against Bangladesh in Darwin, Australia, Friday, Aug.14, 2026, (James Ross/AAPImage via AP)

Travis Head of Australia walks from the field after he was dismissed during play on day three of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026, (James Ross/AAPImage via AP)

Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh celebrates after dismissing Beau Webster of Australia during play on day four of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh takes a selfie with fans after defeating Australia on day four of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

DENVER (AP) — Democrat Eileen Laubacher defeated Rep. Lauren Boebert for a Colorado U.S. House seat on Friday, ousting a three-term Republican and staple of conservative media.

Laubacher is a former Navy rear admiral. Her win in the 4th Congressional District race is just one of several surprising Republican losses in what’s shaping up to be the most lopsided election in half a century.

Boebert embodied this decade’s version of Republican politics. The telegenic owner of a gun-themed restaurant named “Shooters Grill” in the western Colorado town of Rifle, she catapulted to notoriety alongside President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Once elected to Congress, she refused to pass through metal detectors at the U.S. Capitol and taunted Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar as part of the “jihad squad.” After barely surviving her first reelection campaign, Boebert moved across Colorado to a more Republican district.

Republicans carried the 4th District by more than 18 percentage points in 2024. But even that wasn’t safe for her in this year’s midterm elections.

Boebert acknowledged the widespread losses as she returned to the Capitol this week, saying, “We collectively failed.”

“It’s very clear,” she said. “The American people let us know we have failed in this governing experience for this Congress.”

Rep.-elect Eileen Laubacher, D-Colo., arrives for first day of new member orientation at the Capitol, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., arrives for a House GOP leadership candidate forum and elections for the 120th Congress, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)