Azan Awais became only the second Pakistan batter in Test history to be dismissed off the very first ball of a match, trapped LBW by Ollie Robinson at Headingley in 2026. Meanwhile, in Mackay, Mitchell Starc took six wickets on a wild opening day against Bangladesh.
The opening day of Pakistan’s Test tour of England delivered an immediate shock at Headingley in Leeds, where opener Azan Awais fell to the very first delivery of the match. Joe Root won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision that paid off instantly when Ollie Robinson, bowling from round the wicket, jagged a delivery back sharply into Awais’s pads. The English fielders erupted in immediate appeal, and the umpire raised his finger without hesitation. Pakistan opted to send the decision upstairs, but the review only confirmed the ball was crashing directly into the stumps, forcing a stunned Awais to trudge back to the pavilion.
Headingley Shock and Pakistan’s Rare Test Dismissal History
Awais’s first-ball dismissal marks only the second time in Pakistan’s Test history that a batter has been removed on the game’s opening delivery. The solitary previous instance occurred in 1983, when Mohsin Khan was trapped lbw by Kapil Dev in Jalandhar during a match against India. The dismissal places Awais into an exclusive and unwanted club across international cricket history.
India leads the global tally with nine such dismissals, a record featuring three separate occasions involving Sunil Gavaskar. West Indies and England each sit on six instances, followed by Bangladesh with five, South Africa with three, New Zealand and Australia with two each, and Sri Lanka with one. On the bowling side, Australia’s Mitchell Starc and West Indies bowler Pedro Collins share the record for the most first-ball strikes in Test history, with three apiece.
Mitchell Starc Rips Through Bangladesh in Mackay
Across the cricket world in Australia, veteran fast bowler Mitchell Starc replicated the dramatic first-ball strike rate during a chaotic opening day of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, Queensland. After Australia won the toss and opted to bowl, captain Pat Cummins suggested that the wicket looked pretty good, though he added that if there was any moisture in it, it might be that morning. Starc proved his captain correct immediately by removing Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam with the very first ball of the match.
Starc subsequently removed Tanzid Hasan and trapped captain Najmul Hossain Shanto lbw within the third over, leaving Bangladesh reeling after they had surprisingly won the opening match of the two-test series. Starc finished the first innings with figures of 6-12 across 10 overs, while Cummins contributed three wickets as Bangladesh was bowled out for 64 runs shortly after lunch.
Six (wickets) in the first session, can’t beat that… Obviously a little bit of anger. Mitchell Starc, Australian fast bowler
Historic Lows and Heavy Schedules Ahead
The Bangladesh first-innings collapse to 64 runs marked the lowest total while batting first in Australia since 1932, when South Africa was dismissed for 36. The highest individual score for Bangladesh came from No. 11 batter Shoriful Islam, who managed 14 runs. Mominul Haque stood as the only batter among the first four to score a run, contributing nine before Cameron Green secured a grass-top catch off Starc.
The heavy defeat puts intense pressure on national cricket selectors to overhaul an aging squad, though selectors retained most of the touring party following their initial victory in Darwin. For Australia, the Mackay encounter opens a demanding 12-month schedule featuring 20 Test matches, including upcoming high-profile tours to South Africa, India, and England.
