India vs Australia: Starc takes ninth fifer, equals Lee, Afridi
Australia bowled out India for 117 in the 2nd ODI at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. Like the series opener, Mitchell Starc did the damage. The left-arm pacer took a five-wicket haul this time. It was Starc's ninth fifer in ODIs, and he has equaled legends Brett Lee and Shahid Afridi in this regard. Here are the key stats.
Why does this story matter?
Starc has been a mainstay seamer in the Australian side and is considered to be one of the most prolific wicket-takers in world cricket. Starc, who has terrific numbers across formats, is showing his class in the ongoing series against India. After taking three wickets in the low-scoring Wankhede encounter, the left-arm seamer disarrayed India's batting in Visakhapatnam and scripted history.
A fine fifer from Starc
After breathing fire at Wankhede, Starc regained his rhythm in the 2nd ODI. He rattled India's top order with his ravaging in-swinging deliveries. Once again, he was on a hat-trick after Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav on consecutive balls. Starc registered his ninth five-wicket haul in ODIs. He recorded figures worth 5/53 in eight overs, including a maiden (ER: 6.60).
Starc attains these feats
Starc now has nine five-wicket hauls in ODIs, the joint-third-most with Lee and Afridi. The Australian seamer broke Lasith Malinga's record of eight ODI fifers. Pakistan's Waqar Younis (13) and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (10) occupy the top two spots. Starc now has two ODI fifers against India. Lee is the only other Australian with more ODI five-wicket hauls against the Indians (3).
Different shades against India
Starc took 12 wickets against India at an average of 20.92 in ODIs from his debut (2010) to 2015. He took just five ODI wickets against them at 84.20 between 2016 and 2022. Notably, Starc is the leading wicket-taker of the ongoing ODI series (8).
A look at his ODI career
Starc marked his ODI debut against India in 2010. Since then, the pacer has captured 219 scalps across 109 ODIs, averaging 21.78. He has 12 four-fers and nine fifers (BBI: 6/28). At home, Starc has forced 99 dismissals at 21.41 and holds three fifers in his kitty. He owns 75 and 45 scalps in away and neutral venues, averaging 23.72 and 19.40, respectively.
