Starc raised the home crowd from its run-fuelled stupor when he sent down a 160.4 kilometres per hour (99.7 miles per hour) thunderbolt to Taylor before tea.

It was part of a fiery spell from the left-armer and was the fourth-fastest delivery ever recorded, with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar holding the record with 161.3 kph.

Australian duo Brett Lee and Shaun Tait both once clocked at 161.1 kph, and seventies firebrand Jeff Thomson is the only other player recorded at over 160 kph.

However, none of that group performed the feat in Test cricket.

While he did not want to be drawn on the accuracy of the speed reading on that particular delivery, Starc did believe it was one of his fastest spells.

"It was nice to have rhythm and have the ball coming out nicely," he said. "It felt really good."

Fellow paceman Mitchell Johnson moved into fourth on the all-time list of Australian Test wicket-takers when he removed Doug Bracewell late in the day to claim his 311th scalp, passing Brett Lee.

Australia did not help their own cause with some dropped catches, while there was embarrassment for local officials early in the day, with play halted for 17 minutes by a malfunctioning sightscreen.

Source: AFP