Mitchell Starc the king of the Cricket World Cup whose reign is set to go on

He was the man of the tournament in 2015. A blistering five-wicket haul to swing the clash with West Indies from likely defeat to thrilling win suggests Mitchell Starc means business again.

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Mitchell Starc doesn’t care that batsmen know he is going to target their toes as belief grows the World Cup king can deliver Australia back-to-back trophies.

Starc will lead the attack against Virat Kohli’s India in London on Sunday night after dragging Australia to a 2-0 start with a death bowling performance against the West Indies for the ages.

Mitchell Starc was at his devastating best in Australia’s win over West Indies at Trent Bridge.

The left-arm quick jagged 4/2 in an 11-ball burst that ended a run of recent nightmares at Trent Bridge for Australia, as the 2015 World Cup player of the tournament snagged the first five-wicket haul of the 2019 edition.

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Starc’s 5/46 delivered the Aussies their 10th consecutive ODI win after dropping 22 out of their previous 26.

“Having that (World Cup) experience of four years ago probably helps,” Starc said.

The dangerous Chris Gayle was dismissed lbw in Starc’s first spell of the match.

“It’s something I enjoy doing, bowling at the death. You’re not going to win them all, and there’s going to be times where you go the journey or where you don’t quite get your team over the line.

“But I think that’s what I enjoy about the challenge of that.

“The yorker for me is one I’ve probably gone to more often than not in the past.

👑 | MITCHELL STARC is the World Cup king ...

Games: 10
Wickets: 28
Average: 10.75
Economy: 3.72
Best: 6/28

The player of the 2015 tournament has just taken the first five-wicket haul of the 2019 tournament (5/46).#CWC19

— Sam Landsberger 🗯 (@SamLandsberger) June 6, 2019

“So, whilst they’ll know it’s coming, as long as I keep executing it, hopefully it’s going to be better for me than them.”

Starc’s final spell netted 3/1 as he removed set batsmen Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite in three balls to swing the match.

A slower ball yorker deceived Brathwaite while West Indies captain Holder then pulled a short ball straight to Adam Zampa.

Holder said they were powerless to stop Starc’s yorkers.

“You know what you get with Starc. He comes back and he goes quite full. Credit must be given to him,” Holder said.

Most five-wicket hauls in an innings

Player	Matches	Average	Four-wicket hauls	Five-wicket hauls
Waqar Younis	262	23.84	14	13
M Muralitharan	350	23.08	15	10
Brett Lee	221	23.36	14	9
Shahid Afridi	398	34.51	4	9
SL Malinga	220	29.02	10	8
Glen McGrath	250	22.02	9	7
Mitchell Starc	77	21.09	9	6

Before Starc’s final spell the West Indies needed just 38 runs from five overs with four wickets remaining.

Starc became the fastest player in cricket history to claim 150 ODI wickets and picked up his sixth five-wicket haul from just 77 matches.

Starc claimed his sixth five-wicket ODI haul.

The great Glenn McGrath finished with seven five-wicket hauls from an extra 173 games.

Starc needs just eight more wickets in the tournament to overtake Brett Lee, Brad Hogg, Shaun Tait and Shane Warne and become Australia’s second-most damaging World Cup bowler, behind world leader McGrath.

Starc, 29, missed three months of cricket with a torn pectoral muscle but in an ominous sign said he had found his groove.

“I felt really good,” he said.

“Rhythm is starting to feel really good, and the things I’ve been working on the last few months are really coming to fruition, so that’s a huge positive for me.”

Chris Gayle, 39, was given out to Starc three times in four balls but the destructive opener reviewed all three on-field decisions and had the first two overturned.

“I’ve had some good battles with Chris over the years, and he’s obviously a major weapon for them,” Starc said.

Originally published as Mitchell Starc the king of the Cricket World Cup whose reign is set to go on