AUSTRALIA TOUR OF WEST INDIES 2025
West Indies were bundled out for 27 – the second lowest total in Test history © AFP
West Indies were bowled out for just 27 on the third day at Sabina Park, the second-lowest total in the history of Test cricket, which gave Australia a big 176-run win and a 3-0 clean sweep of the series. What followed after lunch on Day 3 was scarcely believable even by the wild standards of pink-ball Test matches, as Mitchell Starc registered the fastest five-wicket haul (15 balls) and Scott Boland picked a hat-trick to tear through the West Indian batting in a stunning spell of swing and seam bowling.
Chasing 204 in conditions that had been tricky right through the match, West Indies never got going. Starc, playing in his 100th Test, struck with the very first ball of the innings and triggered a collapse. He got rid of John Campbell, Kevlon Anderson and Brandon King all in the same over, with the last two falling to full deliveries that swung in late and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad.
At 0 for 3, the hosts were already in big trouble but Starc was not done. In his third over, he trapped Mikyle Louis in front to reach 400 Test wickets, becoming only the fourth Australian to do so, and two balls later he removed Shai Hope with another sharp inswinger. It was classic Starc with the pink ball, bowling fast, getting the ball to move late and giving nothing to the batters.
Josh Hazlewood then added to the collapse by getting rid of Roston Chase and the score read 11 for 6. Justin Greaves, who was the only West Indies batter to reach double digits, managed to hang around for a while with Alzarri Joseph and they took the innings through to Tea. But after the break, it was Boland’s turn to take centre stage.
In a dramatic three-ball burst post Tea, Boland got Greaves to edge one to the slips, trapped Shamar Joseph lbw after a successful review and then bowled Jomel Warrican with a ball that nipped in and hit the top of off stump. It was Boland’s first Test hat-trick and only the 10th by an Australian in Test history.
A single run from a misfield at gully was the only reason West Indies avoided equalling New Zealand’s all-time lowest Test total of 26. Starc came back to bowl Jayden Seales and finished with outstanding figures of 6 for 9 in 7.3 overs. The West Indies innings lasted just 14.3 overs and a little over an hour.
Earlier in the day, things had looked like they could go a different way. Australia started at 99 for 6 in their second innings with a lead of 181 and Cameron Green was still there on 42. But Shamar Joseph dismissed him with the first ball of the morning, an excellent delivery that jagged in and hit the top of off stump. Alzarri Joseph then wrapped up the tail, picking up 5 for 27 and combining with Shamar for nine wickets between them as Australia were all out for 121.
Brief Scores: Australia 225 & 121 (Cameron Green 42, Alzarri Joseph 5-27) beat West Indies 143 & 27 (Mitchell Starc 6-9, Scott Boland 3-2) by 176 runs
© Cricbuzz
