Starc back to his best with hat-trick on eve of cricket’s World Cup

Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Paceman Mitchell Starc has lit up a rain-ruined World Cup warm-up match in India, taking a hat-trick as weather prevented a likely Australia win over the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rain delayed the start of the match by five hours on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) and it was reduced to 23 overs a side, but a torrential downpour forced the abandonment of the game with the Netherlands 6-84 after 14.2 overs, chasing Australia’s 7-166.

Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc smile wryly as the Starc rips through the Netherlands top order in the World Cup warm-up game.Credit: Getty

Steve Smith followed up a 74 in the final ODI against India with a sparkling 55 off 42 balls, with Cameron Green (34 off 26), Alex Carey (28 off 25) and Starc all chipping in.

Starc, the joint-leading wicket taker in the 2015 World Cup and the outright leader in 2019, looks in fine fettle again after an injury lay-off following the Ashes series in England.

After scoring an unbeaten 24 off 22 balls, batting in the uncharacteristically high spot of six, left-arm speedster Starc, who ended with 3-18 off his three overs, reduced the Dutch to 3-12 in just the third over, dismissing three batters for a first-ball duck.

He trapped Max O’Dowd lbw with the fifth ball of the opening over and then fired his next delivery through a gap between bat and pad to bowl Wesley Barresi.

After Mitchell Marsh then took the second over, Starc returned to complete his hat-trick with the first ball of his second over, thanks to a perfect yorker to uproot Bas de Leede.

Marsh (1-24 off 4.2) then bowled opener Vikram Singh for nine to reduce the Netherlands to 4-15.

The South African-born duo of Colin Ackermann (31 not out off 37) and Sybrand Engelbrech added 31 before the latter was bowled by a superb delivery from the excellent Sean Abbott (1-10 off three).

Starc completed a fine all-round performance with a fine diving catch at mid-on off Marnus Labuschagne (1-27 off four) to dismiss Netherlands captain Scott Edwards.

Earlier, Australia had got off to a bad start after captain Pat Cummins won the toss, with Josh Inglis bowled for a three-ball ball duck in the second over.

But Smith and Carey put on 57 off 42 balls for the second wicket, with the left-hander playing some handsome strokes in a stylish cameo.

Glenn Maxwell perished quickly for five, and once Smith was dismissed, Green upped his personal tempo after making a slow start.

Australia play their final warm-up match on Tuesday against Pakistan.

AAP

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article