Mitchell Starc Takes Five Wickets in 22 Balls: The 10 Fastest Five-Fers in Test Cricket History

Mitchell Starc needed only 22 balls to take five Bangladesh wickets on the opening day of the second Test in Mackay on Saturday, August 22, 2026. It was one of the fastest five-wicket hauls Test cricket has ever seen, but it was not the record. Starc himself owns that.

Just over a year earlier, the Australian left-arm quick had destroyed West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, completing a five-wicket haul with his first 15 deliveries. That remains the fastest five-for from the start of a bowling spell in men’s Test cricket.

Starc’s Mackay burst places him sixth on the all-time list. Only his own 15-ball world record, three separate 19-ball five-fors and Shane Watson’s 21-ball demolition of South Africa were quicker.

Against Bangladesh, Starc reached five wickets after only 3.4 overs, equivalent to 22 legal deliveries, as Australia ripped through the tourists on the opening morning at Great Barrier Reef Arena.

The spell was particularly significant because Bangladesh had arrived in Mackay carrying enormous momentum after beating Australia by nine wickets in Darwin, their first Test victory on Australian soil.

The Sports Encounter had examined the significance of this tour before it began in our Australia vs Bangladesh Test series preview. Mackay quickly demonstrated how violently the momentum of a Test series can change.

Starc’s latest burst also gives us the perfect opportunity to revisit one of Test cricket’s most spectacular statistical categories.

Who has taken five wickets fastest in men’s Test history?

What Does the Fastest Five-Wicket Haul Record Actually Measure?

This distinction is important because there are two different ways to measure rapid five-wicket bursts.

The record used in this article measures the fewest deliveries a bowler required to reach five wickets after first coming on to bowl in an innings.

That is the category in which Starc holds the world record with 15 balls against West Indies in Kingston in 2025.

There is another statistical category measuring five wickets taken within a particularly short sequence during a longer spell.

Jacques Kallis, for example, took five Bangladesh wickets within a 12-ball sequence at Potchefstroom in 2002. That does not mean he completed his five-for within his first 12 deliveries of the spell.

In the measurement used for this ranking, Kallis reached five wickets after 27 balls from the time he first came on to bowl.

Keeping those two categories separate prevents one of the most common misunderstandings around the fastest five-for record.

10 Fastest Five-Wicket Hauls in Men’s Test Cricket

Note: Harbhajan Singh also reached five wickets in 27 balls against West Indies at Kingston in 2006. Because Kallis achieved the 27-ball mark four years earlier, Kallis occupies the final place in a strict chronological top 10.

1. Mitchell Starc vs West Indies, Kingston 2025: 15 Balls

No bowler in men’s Test cricket has reached five wickets quicker after first coming on to bowl.

Starc produced the record at Sabina Park during his 100th Test.

West Indies had been set 204 to win the third Test against Australia, but any realistic hope of a successful chase disappeared almost immediately.

Starc dismissed John Campbell with the first delivery of the innings.

Four balls later, he trapped Kevlon Anderson lbw. Brandon King was bowled with the following delivery.

Three wickets had disappeared inside Starc’s opening over.

He returned to remove Mikyle Louis for his 400th Test wicket before dismissing Shai Hope to complete the five-for with his 15th ball.

Starc had broken a record that previously stood at 19 deliveries.

He eventually finished with 6 for 9 as West Indies were bowled out for 27, the second-lowest completed total in men’s Test history.

Australia won by 176 runs and completed a 3-0 series sweep.

Starc also became only the fourth Australian after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon to reach 400 Test wickets.

The performance already looked extraordinary at the time. His 22-ball demolition of Bangladesh in 2026 has made it even more significant because Starc has now produced two of the six fastest five-fors ever recorded by this measurement.

The Sports Encounter has explored the demands placed on modern fast bowlers in our analysis of whether modern workload management has changed Test fast bowling.

2. Ernie Toshack vs India, Brisbane 1947: 19 Balls

For almost seven decades, Ernie Toshack’s record appeared almost untouchable.

The Australian left-arm medium pacer needed only 19 deliveries to take five wickets against India at the Gabba in December 1947.

Toshack finished with extraordinary figures of 5 for 2.

The match was played during the era of eight-ball overs in Australia, meaning his five wickets arrived after only 2.3 overs under the scoring system used at the time.

India were confronting an Australian team captained by Don Bradman and packed with some of the finest players of the era.

Toshack’s spell accelerated a collapse and established a benchmark that survived until Stuart Broad matched it in 2015.

Scott Boland equaled the mark in 2021.

Starc finally broke it in Kingston in 2025.

The remarkable part of Toshack’s achievement is how long it survived through dramatic changes in pitches, equipment, training, batting methods and professional cricket.

3. Stuart Broad vs Australia, Nottingham 2015: 19 Balls

Stuart Broad’s 19-ball five-for came during one of the most famous opening sessions in Ashes history.

Australia arrived at Trent Bridge for the fourth Test of the 2015 series and were dismantled almost immediately.

Broad removed Chris Rogers, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges and captain Michael Clarke within his first 19 deliveries.

He had matched Toshack’s Test record.

Broad continued attacking and finished with 8 for 15.

Australia were bowled out for only 60 in 18.3 overs.

England eventually won by an innings and 78 runs and regained the Ashes.

The spell became one of the defining performances of Broad’s career, which eventually produced 604 Test wickets.

Few spells better illustrated his ability to sense vulnerability in a batting lineup and turn early pressure into a complete collapse.

4. Scott Boland vs England, Melbourne 2021: 19 Balls

Scott Boland matched Toshack and Broad under circumstances that made his performance even more remarkable.

It was his Test debut.

Australia selected the experienced domestic fast bowler for the Boxing Day Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 2021-22 Ashes.

Boland then produced one of the great debut spells.

He completed his five-wicket haul in 19 balls and collected a sixth wicket two deliveries later.

His final figures were 6 for 7 from four overs.

England were dismissed for 68 and Australia won by an innings and 14 runs.

Boland’s accuracy around off stump was devastating. He rarely needed extravagant movement because England were repeatedly forced to play deliveries they could not control.

His performance remains one of the clearest examples of how accuracy, movement and relentless pressure can be as destructive as outright pace.

That distinction has always been central to discussions around great fast bowling. The Sports Encounter explored the same theme when ranking Pakistan’s most lethal fast bowlers.

5. Shane Watson vs South Africa, Cape Town 2011: 21 Balls

Shane Watson is remembered primarily as a powerful opening batter and all-rounder, but one afternoon at Newlands showed how dangerous his seam bowling could become.

Watson took five South African wickets within 21 deliveries during the first Test in Cape Town in November 2011.

He finished with 5 for 17.

At the time, only Toshack had reached five wickets quicker.

The match itself became one of the strangest Tests of the modern era.

Australia were later bowled out for 47 in their second innings, having collapsed to 21 for nine at one stage.

South Africa successfully chased 236 and won by eight wickets.

Watson therefore produced one of the fastest five-fors in Test history in a match Australia still lost comfortably.

It remains a useful reminder that an extraordinary individual spell does not necessarily determine the final result of a Test.

6. Mitchell Starc vs Bangladesh, Mackay 2026: 22 Balls

This is the performance that reopened the fastest-five-for debate.

Australia entered the second Test in Mackay needing a response after Bangladesh’s remarkable nine-wicket victory in Darwin.

The tourists had never previously won a Test in Australia.

Great Barrier Reef Arena was hosting men’s Test cricket for the first time, but Starc did not require long to understand the conditions.

He struck immediately and then kept attacking.

Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque and Litton Das became his first five victims.

By the time the fifth wicket fell, Starc had bowled only 3.4 overs.

Twenty-two legal deliveries.

Five wickets.

Bangladesh had collapsed to 12 for five.

The spell places Starc sixth on the all-time list for fewest balls required to reach five wickets after first coming on to bowl.

It also makes him the only bowler with two entries inside the top six.

That is what makes Mackay more than another destructive Starc spell.

His Kingston record could have been remembered as the extraordinary product of a perfect combination of conditions, form and opposition vulnerability.

Mackay showed that he could reproduce almost the same level of destruction against another batting lineup in a completely different match situation.

The Sports Encounter identified the unusual intensity of the current Test calendar in our coverage of August’s remarkable run of consecutive Test cricket.

7. Hugh Trumble vs England, Melbourne 1904: 23 Balls

Hugh Trumble takes the list back more than 120 years.

The Australian off-spinner produced his extraordinary spell against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1904.

Trumble took seven wickets as England were dismissed for 101 while chasing 320.

He reached his fifth wicket after 23 deliveries.

His final figures were 7 for 28.

Australia won the Test by 218 runs.

Trumble’s appearance on a list otherwise dominated by modern fast bowlers is striking because he operated in a radically different version of Test cricket.

Pitches were uncovered, protective equipment was primitive, bowling workloads were enormous and tactical conventions differed from those used today.

The basic challenge remained the same: create enough uncertainty that a batting lineup begins losing wickets faster than it can recover.

8. Vernon Philander vs New Zealand, Cape Town 2013: 25 Balls

Vernon Philander rarely relied on extreme pace.

He did not need it.

Accuracy, seam position and relentless control made him one of the most difficult Test bowlers of his generation.

New Zealand discovered that at Newlands in January 2013.

Philander reached five wickets after only 25 balls.

Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Dean Brownlie, Kane Williamson and BJ Watling were among the batters caught in the collapse.

New Zealand fell to 27 for five and were eventually dismissed for 45.

Philander finished with 5 for 7 from six overs.

South Africa won by an innings and 27 runs.

His performance demonstrated that devastating fast bowling is not always about raw speed. The ability to make a batter play repeatedly in uncertain conditions can produce equally violent collapses.

South Africa has produced many variations of elite pace bowling. The Sports Encounter compared three of the country’s greatest in our analysis of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn.

9. Josh Hazlewood vs India, Adelaide 2020: 25 Balls

Josh Hazlewood matched Philander’s 25-ball mark during one of the most dramatic batting collapses in modern Test cricket.

India entered the third morning of the Adelaide Test in December 2020 with an opportunity to take control.

Instead, their second innings disappeared.

Hazlewood completed his five-for in 25 deliveries and finished with 5 for 8.

Pat Cummins supported him with 4 for 21.

India were bowled out for 36, their lowest completed Test innings total.

No Indian batter reached double figures.

Australia won the match by eight wickets.

The broader series became famous because India responded from that humiliation, overcame an extraordinary injury list and eventually won the series 2-1 after victory at the Gabba.

Hazlewood’s Adelaide spell still stands as one of the clearest examples of what happens when elite Test bowling combines movement, accuracy and scoreboard pressure.

10. Jacques Kallis vs Bangladesh, Potchefstroom 2002: 27 Balls

Jacques Kallis is usually remembered first for his batting.

His bowling was good enough to put him inside this list.

Against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom in October 2002, Kallis completed a five-wicket haul after 27 deliveries from the time he first came on to bowl.

He finished with 5 for 21 as Bangladesh were dismissed for 107 in their second innings.

South Africa won by an innings and 160 runs.

The spell contains one of the most interesting statistical quirks anywhere on this list.

Kallis’ final five wickets came within a sequence of only 12 balls.

That 12-ball burst is often quoted when discussing the fastest collection of five wickets in Test cricket.

It does not replace Starc’s 15-ball world record because the two statistics measure different things.

Kallis had already bowled earlier deliveries before beginning the 12-ball wicket burst.

Measured from the point at which he first came on to bowl until collecting his fifth wicket, Kallis required 27 balls.

That places him 10th in this ranking.

Harbhajan Singh Also Reached Five Wickets in 27 Balls

Kallis is not alone on 27 deliveries.

Harbhajan Singh matched the figure against West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston in 2006.

The Indian off-spinner finished with 5 for 13 as West Indies were dismissed for 103 in a difficult low-scoring Test.

India had made only 200 in their first innings, but Harbhajan’s intervention gave them a significant advantage.

India eventually won by 49 runs.

Harbhajan does not appear in the strict top 10 above because Kallis achieved the 27-ball benchmark first, in 2002.

If tied performances are grouped rather than separated chronologically, both men share the same statistical position.

Why the Kallis 12-Ball Statistic Does Not Beat Starc’s 15-Ball Record

This is the point most likely to cause confusion when readers search for the fastest five wickets in Test cricket.

Kallis took five wickets within a 12-ball sequence against Bangladesh.

Waqar Younis has also produced an extremely short five-wicket burst, while several other bowlers have taken clusters of wickets within tiny stretches of a longer spell.

Those statistics measure the distance between wickets within an existing bowling spell.

Starc’s record asks a different question:

How many balls did the bowler require from the moment he first came on to bowl until he had taken five wickets?

For Starc in Kingston, the answer was 15.

For Kallis at Potchefstroom, the answer was 27.

Within those 27 deliveries, however, Kallis’ five dismissals happened to be compressed into an extraordinary 12-ball sequence.

Both statistics are legitimate. They should simply never be presented as though they measure the same record.

Australia Dominates the Fastest Five-For Rankings

One pattern jumps out immediately from the list.

Australian bowlers dominate it.

Starc appears twice.

Toshack, Boland, Watson, Trumble and Hazlewood also feature.

Seven of the first nine performances belong to Australian bowlers.

Conditions partly explain that concentration.

Australian pitches have historically produced pace, bounce and periods in which a batting lineup can lose wickets extremely quickly once a high-quality bowler finds movement.

The deeper explanation concerns the attacks around those bowlers.

Starc has spent much of his Test career alongside Cummins, Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

Boland has frequently entered the same attack.

Hazlewood has benefited from Starc and Cummins creating pressure from the other end.

Earlier Australian generations built similar attacks around different combinations.

A five-for belongs statistically to one bowler, but collapses are often created collectively.

The batter cannot simply survive one dangerous spell if another elite bowler is waiting at the opposite end.

Starc Is the Only Bowler With Two of the Six Fastest Five-Fers

This is the most important historical consequence of what happened in Mackay.

Starc does not simply own the record.

He now appears twice among the six quickest five-fors in men’s Test history.

His 15-ball destruction of West Indies remains No. 1.

His 22-ball spell against Bangladesh sits at No. 6.

Both performances came late in a career already defined by longevity, pace and wicket-taking ability.

That combination matters when assessing Starc’s place among Australia’s greatest fast bowlers.

Career wicket totals reward durability.

Bowling averages measure efficiency.

Strike rates show how frequently wickets arrive.

These rapid five-fors reveal something slightly different: the ability to destroy half a batting lineup before it has time to adjust.

Starc still possesses that ability deep into his Test career.

Why Left-Arm Pace Makes Starc So Dangerous During a Collapse

Starc’s angle creates problems before swing or pace are even considered.

Right-handed batters must account for a ball beginning from outside their natural line of vision and moving toward the stumps.

When Starc swings the ball back into them, lbw and bowled become immediate threats.

When the delivery holds its line or moves away, the outside edge enters the game.

His pace gives batters less time to decide which movement they are seeing.

Bounce adds another layer.

Once the first wicket falls, a new batter has to solve all of those problems immediately.

That is often where Starc becomes most dangerous.

He does not always need six overs of setup work. His best spells can become destructive before a batting lineup has properly settled.

This ability helps explain why fast-bowling memories remain such a powerful part of cricket culture. The Sports Encounter explored that fascination through our analysis of why Asia still romanticizes Pakistan’s fast-bowling past.

Fast Does Not Automatically Mean Greatest

The fastest five-for list should not be confused with a ranking of the greatest bowling performances in Test history.

Some of cricket’s most celebrated spells required far more deliveries.

Jim Laker took 10 for 53 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956.

Anil Kumble dismissed all 10 Pakistan batters in Delhi in 1999.

Ajaz Patel took 10 wickets in an innings against India in Mumbai in 2021.

Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Dale Steyn and Glenn McGrath produced countless match-winning spells that do not appear near this particular record.

The fastest-five-for statistic measures the speed of destruction.

It does not account fully for pitch difficulty, opposition quality, match situation, workload or the importance of the wickets.

A bowler who takes five wickets in 22 deliveries has produced a remarkable collapse.

A bowler who takes five wickets across 25 overs on a flat fifth-day surface may have delivered the more difficult performance.

Context still matters.

The Five-For Remains One of Cricket’s Cleanest Bowling Milestones

Modern cricket has become increasingly sophisticated in how it measures bowling.

Analysts track release points, seam movement, swing, expected wickets, pitch maps, speeds, workload, false-shot percentages and matchup data.

The five-wicket haul remains beautifully simple.

One bowler has dismissed half the opposition.

The Sports Encounter saw another example of the importance of a five-for when Justin Greaves took five wickets against Pakistan during the West Indies series.

That spell did not challenge Starc’s delivery-count record, but it changed the direction of the match.

That is why five-fors continue to carry weight even in an era filled with more complicated metrics.

TSE Analysis: Mackay Makes Kingston More Impressive

Starc’s 22-ball spell does something unusual to the way his world record should now be remembered.

It strengthens it.

Kingston could have been dismissed as one of those almost impossible mornings when conditions, rhythm, opposition vulnerability and luck aligned perfectly.

Mackay makes that explanation harder to sustain.

Different opponent.

Different country.

Different pitch.

Different series situation.

Almost the same result.

The common factor was Starc attacking new batters before they could establish themselves.

That ability has always been central to his value.

His best spells do not simply create pressure. They compress the time available for a batting lineup to respond.

Once wickets begin falling, the next batter is immediately exposed to pace, angle, movement and an opponent whose confidence is rising with every delivery.

Bangladesh experienced that in Mackay.

West Indies experienced an even more extreme version in Kingston.

So, Is Mitchell Starc’s 22-Ball Five-For the Fastest Ever?

No.

Starc himself holds the record.

He needed only 15 balls to take five wickets against West Indies in Kingston in 2025.

Ernie Toshack, Stuart Broad and Scott Boland share the next mark at 19 balls.

Shane Watson follows with 21 balls.

Starc’s Bangladesh five-for came in 22 balls.

That places his Mackay performance sixth among the fastest five-wicket hauls in men’s Test cricket when measured from the moment a bowler first comes on to bowl.

Only five performances have reached five wickets quicker.

Two of those six performances now belong to Mitchell Starc.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest five-wicket haul in men’s Test cricket?

Mitchell Starc holds the record for the fewest balls required to reach five wickets after first coming on to bowl. He took five wickets in 15 balls against West Indies at Kingston in 2025.

How many balls did Mitchell Starc need for five wickets against Bangladesh in Mackay?

Starc completed his five-wicket haul in 22 legal deliveries, equivalent to 3.4 overs, during the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay on August 22, 2026.

Where does Starc’s 22-ball five-for rank in Test history?

It ranks sixth among the fastest men’s Test five-wicket hauls measured from the time a bowler first comes on to bowl.

Who took five wickets in 19 balls in Test cricket?

Ernie Toshack against India in Brisbane in 1947, Stuart Broad against Australia at Nottingham in 2015 and Scott Boland against England at Melbourne in 2021 all reached five wickets in 19 balls.

Who held the fastest five-for record before Mitchell Starc?

The previous record was 19 balls, shared by Ernie Toshack, Stuart Broad and Scott Boland. Starc reduced the record to 15 balls against West Indies in 2025.

How fast was Shane Watson’s five-wicket haul?

Watson took five wickets in 21 balls against South Africa at Cape Town in 2011.

How many balls did Hugh Trumble need to take five wickets?

Trumble reached five wickets in 23 balls against England at Melbourne in 1904.

How quickly did Vernon Philander take five wickets against New Zealand?

Philander needed 25 balls to reach five wickets against New Zealand at Cape Town in 2013.

How quickly did Josh Hazlewood take five wickets against India?

Hazlewood completed his five-wicket haul in 25 deliveries during India’s collapse for 36 at Adelaide in 2020.

Why is Jacques Kallis listed at 27 balls if he took five wickets in 12 balls?

Kallis took his five wickets within a 12-ball sequence during a larger spell against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom in 2002. However, he had already bowled deliveries before that sequence began. Measured from the time he first came on to bowl until his fifth wicket, he required 27 balls.

Did Harbhajan Singh also take a five-for in 27 balls?

Yes. Harbhajan reached five wickets in 27 deliveries against West Indies at Kingston in 2006. Kallis appears in the strict top 10 because he achieved the same mark earlier, in 2002.

Which bowler appears twice among the six fastest five-fors in Test cricket?

Mitchell Starc is the only bowler with two entries among the six fastest. He holds the record with 15 balls against West Indies in 2025 and is sixth with 22 balls against Bangladesh in 2026.