No matter how he does in bilateral series or during the group stage games of an ICC tournament, Starc breaking the shackles and activating his 'Big Match Starc' mode and delivering match-winning performances when it matters the most is a guarantee
Mitchell Starc (Pic: AFP)
Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has, over the years, established himself as one of the biggest match-winners in international cricket. No matter how he does in bilateral series or during the group stage games of an ICC tournament, Starc breaking the shackles and activating his 'Big Match Starc' mode and delivering match-winning performances when it matters the most is a guarantee.
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After struggling in the first half of the IPL 2024, which concluded on Sunday with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) getting their third title, Starc's reputation as a T20 bowler was subjected to a lot of trolling, questions and memes and many wondered if his hefty price tag of Rs 24.75 crore was worth it. But, the most expensive IPL player in the history delivered when it mattered the most, taking spells of 3/34 and 2/14 in the IPL 2024 qualifier 1 and the final, both against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In both cases, his fiery powerplay spells set the tone for KKR's dominance.
Starc has an incredible record in tournament finals across all forms of cricket. Whenever the bowler has been to a tournament final, he has returned back home with the trophy and most times, some contributions to his team's win. Let us look at Starc's incredibly consistent record in finals:
2012 Big Bash League T20 league: In the Big Bash League final held on January 2012, Starc delivered a spell of 2/40 in four overs, restricting Perth Scorchers to 156/5 in 20 overs, which Starc's Sydney Sixers chased down with seven balls left.
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2012 Champions League T20: In the title clash against the South African domestic side The Lions in this multi-country T20 franchise cricket tournament, Sydney Sixers' Starc took 1/36 in four overs, ending Lions' innings at 121 runs. Sydney pulled off the run-chase without losing a wicket. Starc won the Player of the Tournament award for taking 14 wickets.
2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final: In a high-octane clash in the final against a hard-hitting New Zealand, Starc shook the Kiwi top order by pocketing their skipper Brendon McCullum's wicket for a duck. McCullum's loss was a trauma Kiwis never recovered from. Starc's spell of 2/20 in eight overs restricted Kiwis to just 183, which Australia chased down with half-centuries from Steve Smith and skipper Michael Clarke to secure the fifth WC title. Starc won the 'Player of the Tournament' title for taking 22 wickets.
2015 Domestic One Day Cup final: Starc won the Domestic ODI Cup for New South Wales in 2015. Playing the final against South Australia, the 'Big Match Starc' came through with a spell of 3/39 in eight overs, including the wicket of SA skipper Travis Head. SA was bundled out for 221 runs, which NSW chased down thanks to half-centuries from Ed Cowan and Steve Smith. He won the 'Player of the Series' award for taking 26 wickets too.
2021 ICC T20 World Cup final: In the final of 2021 edition of the competition held in Dubai, Starc went for runs, conceding 60 runs in his four overs. NZ put up a solid total of 172/4, which Australia chased down with seven balls in hand thanks to fifties from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.
2021 Domestic One Day Cup: In the final of the 2020-21 Domestic ODI Cup, held on April 2021 against Western Australia, Starc took 2/32 in 7.3 overs, including the match-winning wicket of Lance Morris to bundle out WA for 149 runs in a run-chase of 252 runs and to secure another big trophy.
2023 ICC World Test Championship final: In the final of the 2021-23 cycle of ICC World Test Championship, Starc took a total of four wickets across both the innings, including those of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, to help Australia secure a 209 run win to capture their maiden ICC WTC title.
2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final: Starc's experience and elite mindset of winning and delivering in big games helped Australia secure their sixth 50-over World Cup by beating India in the final by six wickets. In 10 overs, Starc gave away just 55 runs and took three wickets of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami to restrict India to 240 runs in 50 overs, which Australia chased down after a batting masterclass from Travis Head.
IPL 2024 final: The 'Big Match Starc' turned up once again during a knockout game, with his fiery powerplay spell setting the tone for KKR's all-round domination of a strong Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) line-up and team's third title win, their first since 2014. He took 2/14 in three overs, getting wickets of big-hitting Indian batters Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi to restrict SRH to just 113 runs, which KKR chased down with eight wickets in hand. With his fine performance in the final, he justified the faith shown in him by the team management.
(With agency inputs)
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