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Boland Hat-Trick, Starc 6-Fer Lead Shameful Windies' Collapse In 3rd Test

Soumyajit Dutta

Scott Boland does a hat-trick at Sabina Park [Source: @cricketcomau/X.com]Scott Boland does a hat-trick at Sabina Park [Source: @cricketcomau/X.com]

In a brutal, blink-and-you'll-miss-it display of fast bowling carnage, Australia ruthlessly completed a 3-0 series sweep over the West Indies, sealing the final Test at Sabina Park inside three chaotic hours on Day 3. 

A shell-shocked West Indies crumbled to the second-lowest total in Test history, a paltry 27 all out, as Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland etched their names into the record books amidst a Caribbean collapse of unprecedented proportions.

The Record-Breaking Collapse Of West Indies

Chasing 204 for an improbable consolation win after Alzarri Joseph (5 wickets) and Shamar Joseph (2 wickets) had impressively bowled Australia out for 121 in their second innings, the West Indies innings dissolved into pure chaos. Mitchell Starc, playing his 100th Test, produced a spell of pure, unadulterated destruction.

The left-arm quick, already celebrating reaching 400 Test wickets earlier in the match, produced the fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket history. He needed just 15 balls to rip through the West Indies top order, sending five of the top six batters packing in a whirlwind of pace and swing. His figures of 5-11 in 3.5 overs were the engine room of the demolition.

Boland's Hat-Trick Seals Fate For The Caribbeans

Just as Justin Greaves (8) offered brief resistance with a couple of elegant boundaries, Scott Boland extinguished any flicker of hope. In his second over of the day, Boland shattered Greaves' stumps. On the very next two deliveries, he clean-bowled Shamar Joseph and trapped Jomel Warrican lbw, securing his maiden Test hat-trick and sending the West Indies reeling at a scarcely believable 26/9.

Number 11 Jayden Seales avoided the ignominy of equalling New Zealand's all-time low of 26, edging a boundary. But Starc returned immediately to shatter Seales' stumps, dismissing West Indies for 27, their lowest-ever Test total, surpassing the 47 made at this very ground in 2004. It stands as the second-lowest total ever recorded in 147 years of Test cricket.

The Context of Collapse

This historic meltdown was sadly emblematic of the West Indies' batting frailties throughout the series and even within this Test. After their own pace attack, led by Shamar Joseph (4 wickets), had skittled Australia for 225 in the first innings, the Windies batters collapsed from 73/3 to 143 all out, gifting Australia an 82-run lead. 

Despite Alzarri and Shamar Joseph's heroics with the ball on Day 2 (taking 7 wickets between them to bowl Australia out for 121), the batting unit imploded catastrophically when faced with a target of 204.

A Series of Australian Dominance

The three-wicket victory in this final Test, secured by a mammoth 176-run margin despite Australia's own second-innings stumble, underscored the gulf between the sides throughout the series. 

Australia's pace attack, led by the evergreen Starc and bolstered by the relentless Boland, proved far too potent for a West Indies batting lineup lacking consistent application or resilience against high-quality seam bowling.