Mitchell Starc delivered the fastest five-wicket haul in test history on Monday as Australia crushed the West Indies cricket team by 176 runs in the third test in Kingston, Jamaica to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
In his 100th test, Starc took 15 balls to wreck the West Indies top order and leave the home side’s run chase in tatters, before returning for his sixth wicket after Scott Boland became Australia’s 10th bowler to take a test hat-trick.
West Indies cricket team was bowled out for 27, the second-lowest total in test history after New Zealand’s 26 against England in 1955.
Starc shattered the previous record for a “five-for” by four balls, surpassing Ernie Toshack (1947), Stuart Broad (2015) and Boland (2021), who needed 19 deliveries to achieve the feat.
“You talk about 100 tests and skill and fitness … but I think today showed the real Mitchell Starc – what he can bring to a team. Which is, out of nowhere, tear an opposition apart and win a game for you,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.
