3 times Mitchell Starc came 'clutch' against all odds ft. IPL 2024 vs MI
Mitchell Starc is one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in world cricket. The left-arm pacer made his debut in 2010 for Australia, but announced his arrival in the 2015 ODI World Cup, where he was the game-changer for the Aussies with the ball. His brilliance helped Australia become world champions on home turf.
After the 2015 ODI World Cup, Mitchell Starc had a fantastic IPL season with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Since then, his confidence has been on another level, but he had to stay away from the IPL to keep himself fit for Australia's international matches.
Starc proved himself as a match-winner for Australia in all three formats of the game, winning the T20 World Cup 2021, World Test Championship 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023 with the Aussie squad. One of the major reasons behind Starc's success is that he often steps up and delivers the goods for his team when the pressure is immense.
In this listicle, we will look at the three instances when Mitchell Starc came clutch against all odds.
#1 Mitchell Starc destroys Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium - 4/33, IPL 2024
Last night in IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders recorded a historic win against Mumbai Indians, defeating them at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time in 12 years. The hero of that win was Mitchell Starc, who bagged his first four-wicket haul in the KKR jersey.
Prior to the match against Mumbai Indians, Starc was quite expensive with the ball, leaking runs at an economy rate of 10 in almost every game. He also missed a game due to a slight injury, with Dushmantha Chameera taking his place.
KKR managed only 169 runs at the Wankhede Stadium last night, which is why the bowlers had to perform well to earn the two points from the contest. Starc led the bowling attack from the front, dismissing Ishan Kishan, Tim David, Piyush Chawla, and Gerald Coetzee. He finished with figures of 4/33 in 3.5 overs.
#2 Mitchell Starc takes a 6-wicket haul under pressure in 2015 World Cup
As mentioned earlier, the 2015 ODI World Cup was the tournament where Starc announced his arrival in world cricket. The left-arm fast bowler produced his career-best ODI performance in a group-stage match against New Zealand, bagging six wickets for just 28 runs.
Australia were bundled out for 151 runs in the first innings. Brendon McCullum's whirlwind half-century put the Kiwis in a comfortable position in the run-chase, but Starc took the catch to dismiss him and then sent Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, and Adam Milne to turn the game in Australia's favor.
Starc nailed his yorkers to perfection, and he was just one yorker away from sealing a memorable win for Australia. Unfortunately for him, Trent Boult tacked his two deliveries, and then, Kane Williamson smashed a six off Pat Cummins' bowling to win it for New Zealand.
#3 Starc stuns New Zealand at the grand stage again
Four years later, Australia battled against New Zealand in the group stage of the ODI World Cup again. Playing at Lord's, Australia scored 243/9 in 50 overs. New Zealand had experienced names like Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, and Colin de Grandhomme in their team.
It looked like the Kiwis would chase down 244 easily, but Starc had other plans. The left-arm fast bowler bowled a dream spell of 5/26 in 9.4 overs, bagging the wickets of Williamson, Latham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, and Lockie Ferguson.
Defending a low target in a high-pressure World Cup match, Mitchell Starc took his game to another level and helped his team win.