3 times Ben Stokes had no answer to a Mitchell Starc ripper
Search Ben Stokes versus Mitchell Starc on YouTube and you'll find enough content to make a blockbuster. There have been some beautiful straight drives, a few cover drives, some sledging, and even a 'controversial' run-out.
The most frequent scene you'll find, though, is Starc disturbing Stokes' stumps and the latter looking like it was the most unplayable delivery of his lifetime. Every time.
One of them came up just on Thursday in the fifth Ashes 2023 Test. Stokes was at 3 in the first innings of the Test when Starc bowled an absolute corker. The ball looked like it would pitch on the middle stump but swung in toward the left-handed batter's off-stump and then straightened off the seam to hit the stumps.
Stokes, who was trying to play the original line towards mid-wicket, was absolutely stunned. England were bowled out for 283 and Australia ended the day at 61/1.
Starc has always had the upper hand in the battle. The two players have come across each other on 28 occasions in international cricket. Stokes has gotten out to the Aussie left-arm seamer 12 times in these. Nine of them have come in Tests and three in ODIs at respective averages of just 19.44 and 17.
Let's look at three of the best deliveries in the battle:
#3 MCG 2021
In the third Test of the previous Ashes in Australia, Starc beat Stokes by sheer pace. The all-rounder came to bat at a precarious position of 22/4 in the third innings which England started while trailing by 82 runs.
Stokes tried to be aggressive from the get-go and put some pressure back on the bowlers and hit a couple of stunning drives in the straight V against similar deliveries pitched full outside the off-stump.
So the pacer hurled one at a good length at 145.4 kph from over-the-wicket which nipped back into him, beating his inside edge to hit the top of middle-and-leg stumps.
The batter went back for 11 (16), England were bowled out for just 68 and Australia won the Test by an innings and 14 runs to retain the urn.
#2 Cardiff 2015
Some Thing Never Chnage Ft Mitchell Starc and Ben Stokes twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/g6hKk0I3I2
The first Ashes Test of 2015 in Cardiff was the beginning of the battle between the two modern-day greats.
Starc was fired up whenever he bowled against Stokes and though the latter scored 52 and 42 in the two innings, he was bowled by the seamer on both occasions; that too, after getting hit on the body and surviving multiple lbw calls.
The first bowled, which was also the first time Starc got him out, was from the top-most drawer of jaffas. It was quite similar to the one on Thursday but the ball was much fuller when it pitched on the middle stump.
Stokes was expecting it to come to his pads so didn't move his feet and tried to flick it to the leg side but the ball changed direction viciously off the seam and hit the off-stump. The Englishman was stunned and the Aussie made sure he would remember the wicket by sending him off with a shush celebration.
England won the Test by an innings and 14 runs but set the ball rolling for one of the most entertaining battles in the sport.
#1 2019 ODI World Cup - Lord's
England and Australia went head-to-head twice in the 2019 ODI World Cup. Defending champions Australia won the first, a group-stage clash, while England comprehensively won the second, the semi-final, to eventually go on to lift the title.
In the group-stage clash, England were chasing 286 and lost four wickets for just 53 runs before Stokes led a rebuild. On a pitch where the English batters were unable to counter the swing and Starc had already taken out their best two batters in Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, the all-rounder batted brilliantly to hit 89 (115).
He stepped out to hit the fast bowlers and played spin from the crease. But just when he was looking set to take England home, Starc hurled the last ball of the 37th over right in the block hole with a lot of side-spin and it straightened off the seam to hit the off-stump. But seam movement didn't beat the Englishman.
Freeze the frame on when the ball pitches: Stokes' bat is not even fully in the frame and comes down (in the right direction) only after it had done its job. The left-hander dropped and kicked his bat in dismay and walked a slow walk back.