Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc once again etched his name in golden letters in cricket history with a devastating bowling performance against the West Indies. The pitch in Jamaica proved to be nothing short of a nightmare for the batsmen in this match.
Sports News: Australia's veteran fast bowler Mitchell Starc made his 100th Test match memorable. He created a record in the third Test match against the West Indies that had never happened before in the history of cricket. Mitchell Starc has become the fourth Australian bowler to take 400 wickets in Test cricket. In addition, he also set a world record by taking 5 wickets in the fewest balls (15 balls).
Starc Creates History, Completes 400 Wickets
In the third Test played in Kingston, Jamaica, Mitchell Starc dismissed Mikyle Lewis to claim his 400th wicket in his Test career. He became the fourth Australian and third left-arm pacer to achieve this feat. Before him, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, and Nathan Lyon had achieved this milestone for Australia.
5 Wickets in 15 Balls, Sets New World Record
Mitchell Starc rattled the opposition team by dismissing three West Indies batsmen in the first over of his spell in this match. He created a new world record by taking 5 wickets in just 15 balls. Previously, this record was held by taking 5 wickets in 19 balls, which was shared by Ernie Toshack (1947), Stuart Broad (2015), and Scott Boland (2021).
Mitchell Starc took 3 wickets in the first over of the West Indies' second innings. In this way, he repeated the feat of taking three wickets in the first over of a Test match for the first time since 2006. Earlier, Irfan Pathan had achieved this by taking a hat-trick in the first over against Pakistan in the Karachi Test.
Best Performance in 100th Test, Muralitharan's Record Broken
Mitchell Starc took 6 wickets for 9 runs in this match. This is the best performance by any bowler in their 100th Test. In this case, he broke the record of Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 6 wickets for 54 runs against Bangladesh in 2006. Starc bowled 19,062 balls to complete his 400 wickets in his Test career. He became the second-fastest bowler in the world to reach this figure. Dale Steyn (16,634 balls) still holds the first position in this record.
Australia defeated the West Indies by 176 runs in this match and won the series. After taking a lead in the first innings, Australia scored only 121 runs in the second innings, but due to Mitchell Starc's lethal bowling, they gave the West Indies a target of 204 runs, which they could not achieve. Starc sent John Campbell, Keveon Anderson, and Brandon King to the pavilion in the very first over.
