Sports Correspondent

Bangladesh suffered a dramatic batting collapse at the start of the Mackay Test, losing six wickets before lunch as Mitchell Starc tore through their top order with a devastating spell of fast bowling.

Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. Starc immediately justified the decision with an aggressive opening spell that left Bangladesh's top order in disarray.

Early Blow With the First Ball

Bangladesh lost opener Shadman Islam with the very first delivery of the innings. Starc found the edge of his bat, sending the ball towards the gully, where Cameron Green completed the catch. Shadman departed for a golden duck.

Mominul Haque then came in to open alongside Tanzid Hasan Tamim. He got off the mark with a boundary but could not stay for long.

Starc struck again in his second over, dismissing Tanzid. The opener attempted to deal with a wide yorker but only managed to offer a catch and returned to the pavilion without scoring.

Captain Shanto Falls for Golden Duck

Bangladesh's problems deepened with the dismissal of captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. He was given out by umpire Kumar Dharmasena after Starc's delivery passed close to the outside edge of his leg stump.

Bangladesh reviewed the decision, but the on-field call remained unchanged because of umpire's call. Shanto therefore departed for a golden duck.

Starc then claimed his fourth wicket by removing Mominul Haque, who scored nine runs from 16 balls.

Five-Wicket Haul for Starc

Starc came close to completing a hat-trick, but Litton Das managed to survive the opportunity. However, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter could not stay for long. After being given a life, Litton was dismissed by Starc with the very next ball.

The wicket gave Starc his 19th five-wicket haul in an innings in Test cricket.

At one stage, Bangladesh had slumped to 12 for five under Starc's devastating spell, raising fears that they could fall to their lowest-ever Test total. New Zealand currently hold the record for the lowest team total in Test cricket at 26.

Bangladesh 35-6 at Lunch

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz mounted some resistance to prevent an even bigger collapse. Mushfiqur, however, eventually fell to Pat Cummins after scoring five runs from 42 balls.

At lunch, Bangladesh were 35 for six after 23 overs.

Having won the opening Test in Darwin and arrived in Mackay aiming to seal a historic series victory, Bangladesh now face a major challenge to recover from their disastrous start against Australia's formidable pace attack.