A day of wild swings in Mackay

Bangladesh's second Test against Australia appeared to be slipping away at frightening speed before Shoriful Islam produced a remarkable response to keep the visitors alive in Mackay.

The Tigers were dismissed for just 64 in their first innings, suffering a spectacular batting collapse on a difficult surface. Australia then reached 165 for eight by the close, leaving the hosts 101 runs ahead after a day in which 18 wickets fell.

The numbers tell the story of a day dominated by fast bowling.

Bangladesh's innings lasted only 34 overs. Mitchell Starc was almost impossible to contain, ripping through the top order and finishing with six wickets for 12 runs. Pat Cummins added three wickets as Australia's pace attack took complete control of the opening session.

Bangladesh's batting offered little resistance.

Shoriful Islam's 14 was the highest score, while Taijul Islam remained unbeaten on 11. Mehedi Hasan Miraz also made 11, but the rest of the batting order failed to produce the substantial contribution the team desperately needed.

At that point, Australia appeared to have the match firmly in their hands.

Then Shoriful changed the mood completely.

Returning to the Test side after missing the opening match, the left-arm seamer attacked Australia's batsmen with the same aggression that Starc had shown earlier. His reward was a career-best 6 for 35, his first six-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Australia's innings suddenly began to wobble.

Steve Smith made a valuable 42 and Cameron Green once again showed his class with an unbeaten 51. But Bangladesh refused to allow the home side to turn their early advantage into a massive lead.

A particularly important phase came after Australia had begun to establish a platform. Shoriful's return broke through the resistance and opened the door for Bangladesh to take further wickets.

By stumps, Australia had lost eight wickets.

They still held the advantage, but the margin was nowhere near as commanding as it might have been when Bangladesh were reduced to 64.

That leaves the Test in an unusual position.

Bangladesh have been badly beaten in one department, yet their bowlers have prevented Australia from running away with the game.

The second innings will now determine whether the Tigers can turn that lifeline into a genuine fight.
They need runs-lots of them.

More importantly, they need to show that the first-innings collapse was an aberration rather than a sign that Australia's pace attack has found a permanent weakness.

Darwin gave Bangladesh confidence.

Mackay has delivered a severe warning.

But Shoriful's six-wicket burst means the Tigers still have something to fight for.