Kevlon Anderson emerges for his second innings of his Test debut. Starc slings his second ball high and wide down leg, then pushes the third across Anderson at 139km/h.
Starc’s fourth ball is on line and defended, before the 34-year-old pitches up and raps Anderson on the pad as he inexplicably shoulders arms.
Mitchell Starc’s second innings pitch map.Credit: ESPN Cricinfo
Even more inexplicably, the Windies No.3 reviews the plumbest LBW you’d ever hope to see – replays show he’s struck directly in line with middle stump and Starc’s inswinger would go on to rattle the same peg.
The Windies still haven’t registered a run when Starc rumbles in to Brandon King. Pitching a tad shorter and on a fourth stump line but swinging back beautifully, King steps out with a shoddy, airy front-foot drive.
He’s well beaten, only managing to clip Starc back onto his stumps for a third-wicket in six balls. Simply put, no-one does an opening over better than Australia’s lethal left-armer.
After Josh Hazlewood leaks five runs in an awfully expensive start (who concedes a boundary edged through the slips?), Starc resumes from the Courtney Walsh end. He’s on a hat-trick. And if Mikyle Louis doesn’t present a sound defence, Starc’s inswinger is rattling the stumps again.
Louis plays and misses at a shorter ball and can’t get bat on one that’s sliding down leg either. He defends outside off on the front foot, then middles one to cover and sways away from the last ball of the over. Starc finishes his second still stuck on 399 Test wickets.
Louis faces up for Starc’s 13th ball. It’s the West Indian’s last. Starc has his 400th Test wicket – the fourth Australian to the quadruple ton behind Shane Warne, Nathan Lyon and Glenn McGrath.
Once again, it’s a superb inswinger, though Louis’ defence is hardly rock solid. He’s struck halfway up his front pad, his bat is wafting away listlessly and Starc won’t be denied.
Shai Hope to the crease. He’s poking at a 141.8km/h full ball outside off and edging it past Inglis for two down near the third man boundary, though it didn’t carry to the substitute keeper.
At 4-7, Starc is at Hope again, slightly straighter and shorter. It’s quicker too at 143.9km/h and Hope’s caught on the crease. LBW is the on-field decision and then DRS is called upon. Ball-tracking shows Starc pitching on middle and rising into Hope’s pad as he’s beaten for pace. The pink ball is crashing into leg stump and Starc has five wickets in 15 balls.
Loading
With Starc’s 5-2 ripping the heart out of the West Indies in 20-odd minutes, captain Roston Chase’s swipe at Josh Hazlewood leaves the home side at 6-11 in the sixth over and in unwelcome historic territory.
Their lowest Test total of 47 is a lifetime away. New Zealand’s world record low of 26 from 70 years ago will take some beating.
Especially once Scott Boland gets going after the lunch break. With a hat-trick to start the 14th over, Boland is the 11th Australian to claim one in Test history before Starc knocks over Jayden Seales. Fittingly, it’s with a 143km/h rocket that castles the tail-ender.
A single the ball before has just allowed the West Indies to sneak past the lowest score in Test history. Starc finishes with 6-9 – the best figures of his career in his 100th Test. And all those millions in IPL dollars left ignored seem worth it, and then some.
