Mitchell Starc entered the 350 Test wickets club with a 3-11 in the opening session of the pink-ball Test at the Gabba, reducing West Indies to a precarious 64/5 by Tea.

In better conditions for batting on the opening day, West Indies had no hesitation in doing the obvious but the decision spectacularly backfired on the visitors with the batters continuing to fall to loose shots after the Adelaide debacle. Starc was the destroyer-in-chief, striking thrice in the second half of the session to really set up his team.

To their credit, openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kraigg Braithwate showed good resolve for the first 30 minutes to negotiate testing opening spells of Starc and Josh Hazlewood. However, a tentative push from the skipper got Australia the first opening.

A 33-run stand ensued for the second wicket, where Kirk McKenzie settled in quickly and played with positive intent as he smoked a Nathan Lyon full delivery into the long-on stands. But one shot too many and the No. 3 was soon walking back with Pat Cummins breaking the enterprising partnership. After getting beaten the previous ball, McKenzie again attempted a flashy cut off a shortish delivery outside off and ended up edging to the right of first slip where Usman Khawaja showed good reflexes.

Starc returned for a second spell on the other side of the drinks break, replacing Lyon, and took only two balls to make an impact as Chanderpaul paid the price for fishing outside off after making a solid 21. The veteran pacer reached 350 Test wickets in the very next over when Alick Athanaze fell to yet another loose shot, trying to drive away from the body.

Khawaja pouched another sharp, low catch at the stroke of the session break to mark the end of Justin Greaves short stay in the middle. Starc’s third scalp rounded off a dramatic collapse of 4 for 22.