IPL 2024, Qualifier 1: Mitchell Starc takes three-fer, sets records
Kolkata Knight Riders' Mitchell Starc was on fire against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 1. The Australian left-arm seamer bowled a phenomenal opening spell as he destroyed the SRH top order. Starc bagged a three-wicket haul, with SRH getting bundled out for 159. Notably, he recorded the fourth-best bowling figures for KKR in the IPL playoffs.
Starc demolishes SRH's top order
Starc swung the ball with sheer pace on the spicy Ahmedabad wicket early on. That resulted in Travis Head's wicket as he was knocked over (0) on the second ball. In his third over, Starc dismissed Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed on the back-to-back deliveries. He later bowled the penultimate over and bagged figures worth 3/34. His final over produced 12 runs.
Starc enters record books
As mentioned, Starc now has the fourth-best bowling figures for the Knight Riders in the IPL playoffs. He is only behind Sunil Narine (4/21 vs RCB, Sharjah, 2021), Umesh Yadav (3/13 vs PBKS, Kolkata, 2014), and Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/20 vs SRH, Bengaluru, 2017). Starc went past Kuldeep Yadav, who took 3/35 against SRH in IPL 2016 in Delhi.
Second-most Powerplay wickets in IPL 2024
Starc, who was bought for a record-breaking Rs. 24.75 crore by KKR ahead of IPL 2024, was quite expensive early in the season. However, KRR continued to pin their hopes on Starc, who has bounced back in the last few games. Starc now has nine wickets in the Powerplay in IPL 2024, the second-most by a bowler after Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
