Mitch Starc’s five-wicket haul is a friendly reminder of his stunning performances during World Cups

He just might be the messiah again after Mitchell Starc’s heroics against the West Indies gave Australia’s World Cup campaign some necessary momentum for the journey ahead.

Let the faithful rejoice. Mitchell Starc, the man whose miracles delivered his people the World Cup 2015, has parted the clouds.

Hear the distant sound of trumpets? The believers are sure the rapture is upon us and he is back among us.

Australia rose from the dead twice to win the World Cup match against the West Indies at Trent Bridge. When five of the top order were slain and the score just 79 things seemed next to hopeless, but Steve Smith’s calming 73 and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s exhilarating 92 provided hope to the lost tribe.

That candle was all but extinguished again when the West Indies batsmen locked themselves into a position where they had five wickets in hand and needed just a run a ball to win.

Starc, however, was having none of that. The left arm quick took 4-2 in an 11 deliveries. The ball in his hand as lethal as the jaw bone in Samson’s.

HIGH FIVE: STARC SWINGS WINDIES RESULT WHEN IT COUNTS

Australia's Mitchell Starc celebrates after taking his fifth wicket.

The opposition was 5-216 chasing 288 when had Andre Russell brilliantly caught by Glenn Maxwell.

Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder were at the crease and the Windies still had four wickets in hand when he got the ball again. Both were gone in his first over and Sheldon Cottrell’s stumps were splayed in the next.

Starc took 5-46 for the match. It was his sixth five wicket haul from 77 ODIs.

Only six bowlers have done it more often, but none have done it so regularly. Glenn McGrath finished with seven from 250 ODIs. During the innings he became the fastest man ever to 150 ODI wickets.

More compelling is Starc’s ability to turn it on for World Cups. Starc took 22 wickets at 10.18 in the 2015 tournament. The 29-year-old is in a different space this time.

The summer was difficult for the 1.96m tall left armer whose brother is an Olympic high jumper and wife an Australian wicketkeeper. His body wasn’t right and there was a suspicion his mind wasn’t too. He appeared to brood on the events in South Africa and was irritated by another attack from Shane Warne called him “soft”.

The quick took himself off social media and found himself a better place, healing his mind and injuries while the ODI side wandered about India and the UAE.

The quick is smiling now.

“I guess I’ve been pretty clear and calm in my approach to cricket in the last few months, and hopefully that’s a sign today that even when it’s probably in the balance, I can stay calm,” he said after the game.

Mitchell Starc with teammate David Warner after taking the wicket of Jason Holder.

“Yeah, I guess having that experience of four years ago probably helps play a part.

“As I said before, we’ve got guys that can bowl throughout an innings and bowl at the death, plenty of options for Aaron to go to when called upon. Yeah, another positive today for us to be able to defend that total, but obviously we had to get there with Coults first, which was fantastic.”

Starc’s competition with Chris Gayle was incredible and at times farcical. The batsman was given out twice in the bowler’s second over only to be deprived by DRS, but he eventually got him in the third. His short ball is vicious and his yorker lethal.

It’s the latter he favours in the final overs when the pressure is on.

“I enjoy doing, bowling at the death,” Starc said. “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.

“I guess the yorker for me is one I’ve probably gone to more often than not in the past, as well. 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.”

There’s a lot to like about the way the World Cup is coming together for Australia.

Smith’s ability to keep his head when surrounded by the bodies of the top order bodes well. It took one of the better catches you will ever see to end his innings on 68. The former skipper is threatening to have a very special tournament. His hundred in the tour match was a sign, his determination in the nets is extraordinary.

Australia's Mitchell Starc appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of West Indies' Chris Gayle.

Coulter-Nile’s 92 was the closest thing to a miracle the game provided. The bowler had an ODI top score of 34 before this match, an average of just 12.83. His highest score in first class cricket was just 64.

Steve Smith commented recently that the tailender’s batting had improved out of sight and while Coulter-Nile jokes that the pull shot is the only shot he can play he has worked hard.

“The only time I looked up and I thought ‘Jeez’ was when I was on about 90 I think,” he said after the game. “Then I started thinking about it. I broke my bat one of the shots, I didn’t want to change it, maybe I should have done that.

“I didn’t think about the century. I just thought ‘jeez that’s a lot of runs’.”

Aaron Finch and David Warner scored half centuries in the first match, the skipper finding the touch that had deserted him for the best part of a year and the former vice captain back after that long in exile.

Pat Cummins complements Starc’s brilliance with the new ball and Adam Zampa is the wrist spinner Australian cricket has been searching a long time for.

Originally published as Mitch Starc’s five-wicket haul is a friendly reminder of his stunning performances during World Cups