Australian skipper Steve Smith showered praise on Mitchell Starc after his team registered their third biggest win in ODI in terms of balls remaining. Australia thumped India by 10 wickets with 234 balls to spare to level the three-match series at Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
India was folded for only 117 runs and Mitchell Starc led the foundation of the home team’s downfall. Starc sent back Shubman Gill when the Indian opener played a loose shot on an innocuous delivery. Subsequently, Starc had Rohit Sharma’s number when the Indian skipper went hard at the ball but holed out in slips.
Starc then plumbed Suryakumar Yadav on the first ball and also dismissed the previous match’s hero KL Rahul in a similar fashion. The left arm then accounted for Mohammed Siraj to complete his ninth five-wicket haul in ODIs and his first in Indian conditions.
Starc returned with impressive figures of 5-53 in the eight overs he bowled and played a key role in keeping the opposition under 120. Thus, he was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine bowling show.
Steve Smith also showered praise on Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head, who both took Indian bowlers to cleaners to chase down the target in only 11 overs. The Australian skipper also talked about the unbelievable catch he took at slip to dismiss Hardik Pandya.
Smith said at the post-match presentation, “Was a quick one. Only 37 overs you don’t see that too often. Starc, with the new ball, put them under pressure. It was a nice start to the day. I didn’t know how the wicket was going to play. There was no real total in mind. It was about going out there and executing our skills and hopefully putting Indians under pressure, fortunately, we were able to do that.”
He added, “It was one of those days and we were on the right side of it. Just that kind of a day when the nicks went to hand. The way Head and Marsh played at the start, they just kept going and we were able to bounce back after the last game. Don’t know about the catch of the century. Nice that I held on today. Fortunate I was able to hang on to it. It was a big wicket, Hardik is an unbelievable player.”
The deciding ODI will be played at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Wednesday.
