Mitchell Starc delivered the fastest five-wicket haul in Test history on Monday as Australia crushed the West Indies by 176 runs in the third Test in Kingston, Jamaica, to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
West Indies were bowled out for 27, the second-lowest total in Test history after New Zealand's 26 against England in 1955.
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.
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.
It was Starc's 15th five-wicket innings in Tests and also saw him claim his 400th Test scalp.
"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.
“It's been a fantastic series. I think we've seen some difficult batting conditions throughout,” said Starc. “It's been a good few days, very enjoyable and I'll go home with a smile on my face.”
The drama began on the first delivery of West Indies' second innings, when Starc enticed John Campbell to nick an outswinger to wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.
Debutant Kevlon Anderson shouldered arms to a ball that jagged back and struck his pad four balls later, before Brandon King edged on to his stumps as the hosts found themselves three wickets down with no runs on the board.
Starc, named player-of-the-match and series, then trapped Mikyle Louis lbw to become the fourth Australian to reach 400 Test wickets alongside Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.
Two balls later, he trapped Shai Hope lbw and finished with figures of 6-9.
“Today again just felt like everything was in sync,” Star said. "Everyone who had the ball in hand today was on the mark straight away.
“I don’t think we imagined it was going to happen as quickly as it did but when you’ve got an attack like ours, some things can happen like that.”
At tea, the West Indies stood at a precarious 22-6, needing 182 runs for victory and staring down the barrel of cricket's ultimate embarrassment, with five runs needed to avoid the lowest-ever total.
And the drama was far from over.
Boland dismissed Justin Greaves, Shamar Joseph and Jomel Warrican to claim a hat-trick that left West Indies at 26-9, level with New Zealand's record.
"He is amazing, isn’t he?" Starc said of 36-year-old Boland, who has 62 wickets from 14 Tests at an average of 16.53.
"He would have played so many more Tests in another team."
In the end, it was a narrow escape for West Indies as they added another run before Starc returned to bowl Jayden Seales.
Earlier, Australia were dismissed for 121, their lowest score against West Indies in 30 years, with Alzarri Joseph completing career-best figures of 5-27 and Shamar Joseph 4-34.
That was little consolation for West Indies captain Roston Chase, who said being bowled out for less than 30 was "quite embarrassing."
"Obviously we've been putting ourselves in positions to win games and then we [are] just laying down and not putting up a fight in the last batting innings," he said.
"It's quite heartbreaking, because I think we did it in all three tests, and we're not really learning from our mistakes."
Lowest totals in Test cricket
26 New Zealand v England, Auckland, 1955
27 West Indies v Australia, Kingston, 2025
30 South Africa v England, Gqeberha, 1896
30 South Africa v England, Birmingham, 1924
35 South Africa v England, Cape Town, 1899
36 South Africa v Australia, Melbourne, 1932
36 Australia v England, Birmingham, 1902
36 India v Australia, Adelaide, 2020
