AUS vs WI | Twitter winces as Starc's literal toecrusher prematurely ends Shamar's Down Under tour

‌West Indies' resistance in search of a historic Test win at the Gabba met the unstoppable force that is the Australian bowling attack on Saturday and the side whittled down to 193 all out in a little over two sessions from an overnight score of 13/1. While the resultant target for the hosts still read a challenging 216, the Caribbean outfit could have added a few more precious runs to their tally were it not for a double whammy dealt by Mitchell Starc late in the day.

The Windies were trudging along on 193/9 with debutant Kevin Sinclair and Shamar Joseph at the crease. Both had shown signs of promise with the bat, the former scoring a half-century in the first innings while the latter had impressed with a quickfire 36 on his debut in Adelaide. However, Starc was spitting fire with the pink ball under the lights and managed to end the Windies' innings in an unwittingly perverse way. The left-arm quick fired in a trademark searing over midway through the 73rd over that rendered Joseph clueless and struck the scampering tailender bang on the toe of his right boot. He was immediately knocked off-balance and somehow hobbled back into the crease even as the umpire gave him out LBW. Even though the dismissal was reversed courtesy of Starc overstepping, it did not matter much with Joseph taking to the ground and clutching his toe in immense agony.

Sinclair quickly helped his compatriot get rid of the boot while the physio came rushing in and the cameras revealed a huge bleeding cut on the underside of Joseph's big toe. In an act of bravado, Joseph tried to stand up and attempt to walk but nearly tumbled to the ground were it not for the medical staff to hold him steady. Twitterati took to social media to empathize with the youngster.

Toe crushed!

pic.twitter.com/mQ8KUUGjeO

— Glennmax (@maxglenn425) January 27, 2024

Litreally!

Michelle Starc literally crushed Shamar Joseph's toe😅#AUSvWI #mitchellstarc pic.twitter.com/3jMQv6jIcB

— SportsCafe (@IndiaSportscafe) January 27, 2024

Gone

Mitchell Starc delivers a Toe Crushing Yorker and Batsman is Retired Out😭



need some of these in IPL for KKR🍿



#AUSvsWIpic.twitter.com/zk2auoLcfw

— KKR Bhakt 🇮🇳 ™ (@KKRSince2011) January 27, 2024

Nasty

Nasty blow for Windies !!

Shemar Hoseph hurt by Starc yorker....#AUSvsWI #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/CFTDVUSBqS

— عا لیان ★ (@ExoticAliyan) January 27, 2024

Brutal

TOE CRUSHER YORKER BY STARC



A Starc yorker split open Shamar Joseph's toe - West Indies will be a bowler short as Australia begin their chase of 216#AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/ipg3PsRJ2D

— Irfan Shakir (@iamirfanshakir) January 27, 2024

Crushed

Mitchell Starc crushed Shamar Joseph's toe.#AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/Dnt4haJjHW

— chanchal sarkar (@CHANCHA55457263) January 27, 2024

The best!

Mitchell Starc has best Yorker in the world.🔥



And it's a Fact!! #AUSvsWI pic.twitter.com/EKrqDfJy2Z

— KKR Bhakt 🇮🇳 ™ (@KKRSince2011) January 27, 2024

What a delivery!

Mitchell Starc crushed Shamar Joseph's toe.



Australia needs 216 runs to win the 2nd Test against West Indies.#AUSvsWI #INDvsENG #TestCricket #Bazball pic.twitter.com/6pKloI1478

— Ashu prajapati (@Ashupra96304089) January 27, 2024

Ouch!

Ouchhh! Hope he will be fine and atleast bowl some overs in last innings🤞

By the way game is ON for both Wi & Aus. 4th inning chase of 200+ let see how aus gonna do. #AUSvsWI | #ShamarJoseph | #Starc https://t.co/n9R4MxwQtF

— Ferrari🏎 (@_acrophobic) January 27, 2024

Thunderbolt!

Shamar Joseph takes a Mitch Starc thunderbolt to the foot - still has the awareness to get back in his crease before collapsing in agony and being helped off the ground.



Just sayin’ Bairstow and @ECB_cricket ! @CricketAus @FoxCricket @SEN_Cricket https://t.co/qhGZC7Wew7

— AndyBoura (@AndyBoura) January 27, 2024