Mitchell Starc needed only six deliveries under the Kingston floodlights to tilt the fourth-innings chase Australia’s way, removing West Indies’ top three for no score and marching to the brink of a personal landmark.
With the pink ball still shiny, Starc angled his first delivery across John Campbell. “Caught behind first ball!” came the urgent call from the ball-by-ball commentator as Campbell feathered to Josh Inglis. Two balls later Kevlon Anderson was pinned in front. “Plumb lbw! No shot offered and it would have hit middle,” the commentary added, before wondering aloud, “No idea why Mikyle Louis encouraged that review. That was ridiculous.” Starc completed the set when Brandon King inside-edged a late inswinger on to his leg stump: “Three in the over!”
The hosts were 0 for 3, chasing a modest 204, and Starc was sitting on 399 Test wickets. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball database, it is only the second instance of a bowler taking three wickets in the opening over of a Test innings.
Australia captain Pat Cummins kept his praise measured. “Mitch just got it right in that first over – full, fast, swinging. That’s all you can ask,” he said in a television interview. West Indies coach Andre Coleman tried to focus on the positives. “We’ve spoken about intent and staying calm. An early burst like that hurts, but there’s still cricket left in the game,” he told local radio.
Starc’s ability to strike first ball is hardly new – this was the fourth time he has done so in Tests. Former Australia quick Jason Gillespie, speaking on the host broadcaster, noted the left-armer’s method: “He hits that 140-plus mark, aims at off stump, then lets the seam do the work. Under lights it’s a nightmare.”
Yet the situation is not entirely hopeless for the West Indies. The surface, though offering movement with a pink ball, does not feature the extravagant cracks that often appear late in a day-night match at Perth or Adelaide. If they can blunt the new ball – an enormous if – the remaining target is hardly mountainous.
Starc, however, has other ideas. One more wicket will carry him to 400, a club currently occupied by just six Australians. He tends to reach milestones quickly once he senses them, and the evidence of that opening over suggests he is in no mood to wait.
Whether the West Indies can regroup or Starc will finish the job in similar haste should become clear once play resumes.
