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

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Many tailenders have in the past likened batting to torture but few have had their worst nightmares manifest into reality like Shamar Joseph at the Gabba. The tailender was left dizzy on Saturday after Mitchell Starc's menacing yorker caused a large gash on his big toe and forced him to retire hurt.

‌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!

Litreally!

Gone

Nasty

Brutal

Crushed

The best!

What a delivery!

Ouch!

Thunderbolt!

 

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