[Watch] Mitchell Starc castles Ollie Pope with a magical delivery on Day 4 of the 2nd Ashes Test
Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc produced arguably the ball of the Ashes 2023 thus far to dismiss England's one-drop batter Ollie Pope on Day 4 of the second Test at Lord's.
Chasing a massive 371 for victory, the hosts got off to a very bad start, losing opener Zak Crawley strangled down the leg side off Mitchell Starc's bowling for only three.
Despite having an LBW decision against Ben Duckett overturned by DRS, a fired-up Starc immediately struck on the first ball of his third over to dismiss Ollie Pope. The delivery, bowled by the left-armer from over the wicket, was full and swung in late from off-stump, at pace, to sneak through the right-hander's defense. It crashed into the stumps and uprooted the middle pole.
Here is a video of the magic ball by Mitchell Starc:
Starc the GOAT.🐐💥
#Ashes23 #Bazball https://t.co/6T7dfcXVNu
Starc had struggled with the ball this year, picking up only six wickets in three Tests before being left out of the opening Test at Edgbaston in favor of Scott Boland.
However, the tall left-arm bowler came storming back on his return, picking up three wickets in the first innings before his terrific opening burst to rock the hosts in their run chase.
Despite boasting impressive Test numbers with 315 wickets, Starc has historically struggled in English conditions. In 11 Tests, he has grabbed only 42 wickets at an average of 30.64 and an economy rate of over 3.5 runs per over.
Pat Cummins' double strike leaves England in disarray on Day 4
Australian skipper Pat Cummins followed up on Micthell Starc's initial burst with a double wicket over to further dent England's hopes for victory at Lord's. After Starc reduced the hosts to 13/2, Joe Root and Ben Duckett tried to resurrect the innings with a 28-run partnership.
However, Cummins returned for his second spell and produced two snorters to send the dynamic duo of Joe Root and Harry Brook packing.
Root was dismissed by his nemesis, the Australia captain, with a devastating short delivery angling in towards the head. It led to the right-hander being cramped from room and fending off the ball tamely to provide the simplest of catches to David Warner at slip.
The Aussie captain then produced a classical delivery that pitched around the off-stump and moved away slightly to hit the top of the off-stump to dislodge Brook.
England are in deep trouble as they lose their fourth wicket! 😱
#ENGvAUS #Ashes #TheAshes twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/HT9dVU6Gc3
The 30-year-old's double strike left England reeling at 45-4 in their run chase of 371. With the hosts already trailing in the best-of-five series by 1-0, the possibility of a daunting 2-0 deficit seems strong, barring a miraculous middle-order rescue.
History is also not on England's side, with a target above 300 being chased only once at Lord's - by the West Indies in 1984.