In the first 44 years of one-day international cricket, only five Australians claimed six or more wickets in an innings: Gary Gilmour, Ken MacLeay, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath and Mitchell Johnson. None of them did it more than once. In the past six weeks alone, Mitchell Starc has done it twice.
His 6 for 43 against India at the MCG in January set up an Australian victory, but his 6 for 28 against New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday was not quite enough to avoid a one-wicket defeat. It made the low-scoring match a gripping contest, but unfortunately for the Australians Starc was left with one over up his sleeve.
Having bowled 3.1 overs before the tea break and 2.5 overs straight after it, Starc was rested by captain Michael Clarke and replaced by Johnson, who found no swing and released the pressure that had been built by Starc. Clarke said after the game that it would have been “pretty tough” for Starc to be asked to bowl out his ten overs in a row.
“Hindsight is a great thing,” Starc said. “I think I was blown a little bit, but Mitchy’s done it really well for a long time. I’m not the captain so if I get told to have a break I’ll have a break otherwise I’ll keep going. I asked to have another one but Pup’s the captain and he’s been a great captain for a long time so I back every decision he makes.”
Starc’s six wickets certainly kept Australia in the game for far longer than they might have expected after being dismissed for 151. His mastery of swinging the white ball has been a feature of his limited-overs game, and despite having struggled to hold a place in the Test side, he has five five-wicket hauls in a 35-game ODI career.
“It’s something I’ve worked really hard at for a long time now,” Starc said. “Coming off the IPL last year when I dropped my arm a little, it’s something I worked hard on with Craig McDermott and Troy Cooley up in Brisbane. It’s great to see it working and being consistent and something I’m really confident in is my white-ball bowling … The rewards are great but it’s the wins we’re after.”
Australia missed out on the win, but provided the closest contest of the tournament so far between two Full Member nations, which left the fans at Eden Park on edge until the final six was struck by Kane Williamson. Starc’s haul came after New Zealand’s Trent Boult claimed five in the first innings, and it was a fine example of the how thrilling low-scoring battles can be.