Perth, Oct 19: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc bowled a riveting opening spell against India in the 1st ODI between the two sides in Perth. Starc dismantled the Indian top order with a 5-over spell in which he registered figures of 5-1-20-1, helping the hosts dominate the Shubman Gill-led side.
Starc set up Virat Kohli and dismissed the batter for an 8-ball duck. However, that did not turn out to be the talking point of his spell at all. In fact, it was one of his deliveries to Rohit Sharma that went viral on the internet instead. Starc’s first ball to Rohit Sharma was clocked at 176.5 kmph — perhaps the fastest ever recorded in the history of ODI cricket.
The incident quickly went viral on the internet, as cricket fans joked about what was obviously an error from the speed gun on Sunday, October 19. That said, Starc bowled quite a fiery spell to the Indian top order, averaging around 140 kilometres per hour. One of Starc’s fastest legitimate deliveries was clocked around 145 kmph, once again bowled to Rohit Sharma.
Starc troubled the former India captain with his lengths and the steep bounce he was able to generate from the Perth track. He did not allow Rohit to get off the blocks quickly, which visibly frustrated the Indian opener.
Starc’s pressure eventually resulted in a wicket in the 4th over of the match, when Josh Hazlewood managed to draw an outside edge from the India captain to second slip. A frustrated Rohit Sharma walked off the ground after scoring just 8 runs off 14 balls, losing his wicket to a ball that he perhaps should have left alone.
After Hazlewood’s wicket, Australia had their tails up. Starc soon capitalised on the pressure, dismissing Virat Kohli for an 8-ball duck in the 7th over of the match. Kohli, who batted with a newly opened-up stance against Starc, tried to push at a ball angling across him and ended up handing a catch to the left of point, where Cooper Connolly completed it.
Australia had India reeling with one more wicket in the 9th over, as India captain Shubman Gill nicked a harmless delivery going down the leg side back to the keeper.
India scored just 27 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in the powerplay — their joint-worst performance since 2023 in ODI cricket.( India Today)
