The fastest five-fors in Test history: Starc’s WI destruction only 7th on all-time list

CS Chiwanza
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Australia's Mitchell Starc celebrates taking the wicket of West Indies' Jayden Seales, left, on day three of the third Test cricket match
Mitchell Starc: Australian bowler rips through West Indies

Billy Midwinter bagged the first five-wicket haul in the history of cricket. The Australian took five wickets for 78 runs against England in the inaugural Test match at the MCG in March 1877. Since then, they have become a mark of excellence.

Some five-wicket hauls take a session to compile, and others require a day to accumulate. Below, we have listed the five-wicket hauls that have taken the least number of balls from the first wicket to the fifth:

1. Trent Boult

  • New Zealand
  • 11 balls

Sri Lanka thought they had things under control. They were on 94/4, replying to New Zealand’s first innings total of 178. The two sides were competing in a Test in Christchurch in December 2018. Then Trent Boult happened. The left-armer unleashed an incredible spell of swing-bowling that decimated Sri Lanka in 20 minutes.

Angelo Matthews, who finished the innings unbeaten on 33, helplessly watched the procession of wickets as Boult ran through Sri Lanka’s batting lineup, dismissing Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, and Dushmantha Chameera in 11 balls.

Boult helped dismiss Sri Lanka for 104 and finished the innings with six wickets for 30 runs.

2. Monty Noble

  • Australia
  • 12 balls

There was no surprise when Archie MacLaren, the England captain, elected to bowl first in their contest against Australia in January 1902. There had been persistent rain over Melbourne two or three days before the Test. That meant that the pitch was a minefield on day one, and England capitalised on those conditions.

Syd Barnes and Colin Blythe made the best use of the surface and ran through Australia, dismissing the hosts for 112 runs in 32.1 overs. Barnes took six and Blythe the other four wickets. However, Australia had a weapon of their own.

Monty Noble shared the new ball with Hugh Trumble, and they ran riot. Trumble dismissed England’s top three for a combined 15 runs before Noble stepped up and took the next seven wickets. He dismissed Willie Quaife, John Gunn, Gilbert Jessop, and Arthur Jones in a space of 12 deliveries for six runs to complete the fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Noble finished the innings with seven wickets for 17 runs in 7.4 overs.

3. Kemar Roach

  • West Indies
  • 12 balls

West Indies won the toss, elected to bowl first, and unleashed Kemar Roach on Bangladesh. That is the only way to describe what happened in Antigua in 2018. Litton Das endured a gruelling 13.2 overs of watching a procession of wickets. The Bangladesh opener managed 25 of his team’s 43-run total.

Roach delivered an incredible 12-ball spell that yielded five wickets. He accounted for five of Bangladesh’s top six batters, Tamim Iqbal, Monimul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mahmudullah.

Roach finished the innings with five wickets for eight runs in five overs.

4. Jim Laker

  • England
  • 13 balls

Australia had no answers to Laker’s off-breaks when he unleashed them at Old Trafford in 1956. Their openers, Colin McDonald and Jim Burke, patiently worked their way to a 48-run opening stand in reply. They negotiated England’s spin duo of Laker and Tony Lock well, until the pair switched ends.

Australia went to tea on 62/2, and their world fell apart when they took to the field again. Laker, who had been bowling from the Warwick Road End, changed to the Stretford End and was unplayable. He bagged seven wickets for eight runs in 22 balls in an unforgettable spell. Laker registered the third-fastest five-wicket haul in that spell, taking five wickets for three runs in 13 balls.

He finished the innings with nine wickets for 37 runs, setting the stage for his history-making haul of 19 wickets for 90 runs in the Test.

5. Trent Boult

  • New Zealand
  • 15 balls

The Basin Reserve pitch that New Zealand rolled out in December 2013 was a bowler’s paradise. So when the West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, no one was surprised. However, what took everyone aback was the visitors’ inability to make use of the surface. New Zealand stormed to a commanding 441.

Then Trent Boult stepped up and showed the visitors what they were supposed to have done. The left-armer tore through the visitors’ batting lineup, claiming five wickets in a space of 15 deliveries. He finished the innings with six wickets for 40 runs.

6. Devendra Bishoo

  • West Indies
  • 15 balls

Bernice is a hotbed for cricket in Guyana. It is also the hometown of the West Indies spinner who registered the best bowling figures in an innings by a visiting spinner in Asia in October 2016. He finished the innings with eight wickets for 49 runs.

The leg spinner faced down Pakistan’s impressive batting lineup when the two sides met in Dubai. Bishoo instigated a spectacular collapse that earned him five wickets in 15 deliveries.

7. Mitchell Starc

  • Australia
  • 15 balls

The stars aligned perfectly for Mitchell Starc when he took the new ball for Australia in the fourth innings. He was playing in his 100th Test in July 2025 against the West Indies, and was on the verge of 400 Test wickets. The left-armer had the pink ball on a string, taking three wickets without conceding a run in the first over.

He joined the 400-wicket club in Tests with his 13th delivery of the innings. Starc became the fourth Australian bowler to reach the landmark, after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon. The pacer completed his five-wicket haul with the 15th delivery of the innings.

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