Cricket World Cup: Australian pacer Mitchell Starc celebrates.© AFP
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has continued his good performance during the Cricket World Cups and has maintained his record of taking at least one wicket in every match he has participated in. In the match against Sri Lanka at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Starc took 2/43 in his 10 overs, dismissing Dhanajaya de Silva and Lahiru Kumara. In 21 World Cup matches, Starc has taken 54 wickets at an average of 15.79 with best figures of 6/28. He has three four-wicket hauls and three five-wicket hauls in World Cups.
His haul of 27 wickets in the 2019 World Cup is the highest by a bowler in any edition.
Starc’s figures are better in 41-50 overs. During this period, Starc has bowled 177 balls and taken eighteen wickets. With 104 dot balls, he has an economy rate of 4.64 at this stage when batters are looking for big hits to end the innings well.
Starc’s wickets in death overs average 7.61, meaning he gives around seven runs per wicket. His strike rate is also 9.8 in death overs, which means he averages nine balls per wicket.
The match in Lucknow is crucial for both Sri Lanka and Australia as they are yet to score any points and have lost their two World Cup matches.
Australian legbreak spinner Adam Zampa revealed that he had been suffering from a back spasm for a few days, which played a major role in his poor performance in their last World Cup match.
Zampa’s spin left the Sri Lankan batting line-up in disarray as he claimed a four-wicket haul in his 8 overs, giving away 47 runs. His first innings magic inspired Australia’s first win in the ongoing World Cup as they defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets.
After the match, Zampa revealed that he suffered from back spasms that prevented him from reaching his true potential in Australia’s defeat to South Africa.
With PTI inputs
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