Boland takes hat-trick and Starc joins 400-wicket club as Australia destroy West Indies

Mitchell Starc has produced one of the all-time great bowling spells and Scott Boland taken a hat-trick as Australia bowled West Indies out for 27 to win the third Test.

On a historic day in Jamaica, Australia’s quicks ran riot to wrap up a 176-run victory and claim a 3-0 series sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy.

Chasing 204 for victory, West Indies’ fourth innings lasted just 14.3 overs and only marginally eclipsed the lowest-ever Test total of 26 by New Zealand in 1955.

Boland became just the 10th Australian to claim a Test hat-trick, but it was Starc who ripped the heart out of the hosts with figures of 6 for 9. He took three wickets in the first over of West Indies’ second innings and claimed five in 15 balls to, at one stage, have the hosts 7 for 5.

Playing in his 100th Test, Starc also became the fourth Australian to reach the 400-wicket milestone, joining greats Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.

Starc’s 15-ball five-wicket haul marked the fastest by any bowler in Test history, beating Ernie Toshack from 1947, Stuart Broad’s 2015 Trent Bridge effort and Scott Boland’s MCG heroics of 2021. Each of those took 19 balls.

Starc also became the second man to take three wickets in the opening over of an innings, striking when he had John Campbell caught behind first ball.

He then trapped Kevlon Anderson lbw when the right-hander left a ball that tailed in at him, before bowling Brandon King with the last ball of the over.

Starc’s assault carried into his third over, claiming his 400th Test scalp with another ball that swung into Mikyle Louis’ back pad. Shai Hope followed two balls later, again trapped lbw.

At that point Starc had figures of 5 for 2, with the only runs off him coming via the outside edge of Hope’s bat and through the slips.

Starc could have had a sixth victim, had Sam Konstas not grassed two chances at third slip to remove Alzarri Joseph either side of tea. But that opened the door for Boland’s hat-trick.

Called in for Nathan Lyon, the Victorian edged off Justin Greaves, had Shamar Joseph lbw and bowled Jomel Warrican in consecutive balls.

The hat-trick marked Australia’s first in a Test since Peter Siddle in the 2010-11 Ashes. In all, four of West Indies’ top five were dismissed for ducks, with Louis the only one to trouble the scorers with a four when he edged Hazlewood to the boundary.

Australia’s record showing came after they appeared in danger of dropping the Test when bowled out for 121 in their second innings.