Steve Smith’s stunning catch inspires Australia v New Zealand
Just as New Zealand had begun to fight their way back into the first Test after Josh Hazlewood went down, game-breaker Mitchell Starc and superman Steve Smith produced the moment of the summer. WATCH THE VIDEO
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Match report: Hazlewood hurt but Starc blitz rocks Kiwi
- Hamstrung: The harsh truth exposed by Hazlewood injury
Australian fast bowling star Mitchell Starc said you could feel the electricity surge on and off the field at Perth Stadium after Steve Smith took one of the great Test match catches.
Starc claimed a scintillating four-wicket haul but still is reserved in his fondness for the pink ball.
The left-armer is the world’s best exponent with the pink rock, but said less is more with the format, despite Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts’ yearning to fill the summer up with day-night fixtures.
Starc however says technical changes he’s made to his game to make his lengths more consistent have him bowling better than he ever has in his career.
New Zealand began to fight their way back into the first Test after Josh Hazlewood went down with a hamstring injury, leaving Australia a fast bowler short.
But then game-breaker Starc and superman Smith produced the moment of the summer to remove New Zealand’s best batsman Kane Williamson at a point when the momentum could have swung either way.
“It happens pretty quick. It was a special grab. I don’t know how to explain it,” said Starc.
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“There was a bit of a buzz going around and it gets the group up for a bit as well.
“It certainly got the crowd up for a bit so that was fantastic to see. And unfortunately for Smithy he’s such a good player whether it be with bat or in the field you almost, unfortunately for him, expect that he’s going to hang on to those nine times out of ten.
“The big wicket of Kane, being the captain as well to hang on to him was a big moment in tonight’s session.”
Starc said the players had no idea until they came off the field that they had missed the earlier chance to review Williamson.
“No we actually just heard that was the case when we were in the ice bath,” he said.
“Pat said he didn’t hear anything when he bowled the ball. It wasn’t until someone mentioned it just before that we knew we missed a little opportunity there. I guess thankfully we got him in the end tonight.”
Starc said his heart goes out to close mate, Hazlewood.
“It’s never nice seeing anyone go down, especially one of your best mates,” said Starc.
“I’m not sure how those scans have come back. Hopefully there’s some positivity out of that. I guess it makes it tough now with a bowler down.
“It certainly was for the Kiwis with Ferguson going down as well. The plus side is we’ve got them five down tonight, and hopefully for Josh it’s not too bad and if it’s going to keep him out for the rest of the week hopefully it’s not too big a break to get that hammy right.”
Starc confirmed that Australia purposefully went slow with their batting in the middle session to tee things up perfectly to bowl at New Zealand under lights.
“Yeah spot on. I think if you look at tactically red ball to pink ball, it’s very different when you think of time of day and certainly what you said there, we probably batted a bit slow through that middle session but the plan was to try and get as close to the evening session with the brand new ball as we could,” said Starc.
“Although it was pretty slow to watch and perhaps be a part of it was certainly part of the pink ball tactics to try and utilise the brand new pink ball under lights.
“It was probably justified when you take five wickets in the last session.”