Starc destroys England with cheeky ‘moral victory’ quip after World Cup win

Mitchell Starc couldn’t help but take a light-hearted dig at England after Australia’s 33-run win officially sent the Poms packing.

Mitchell Starc couldn’t help but take a light-hearted dig at England after Australia’s 33-run win overnight in the World Cup, cheekily suggesting the Poms would “probably claim a moral victory”.

Speaking to Star Sports after the win, which pushed Australia into third place in the World Cup standings, Starc said it was good to “keep the momentum going” after a slow opening to the tournament.

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“Not the best start but we have progressed nicely,” Starc said according to The Indian Express.

“We are going along nicely. They would probably claim a moral victory (smiles).”

There were no moral victories to be had. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP).

That, of course, is referencing Harry Brook’s claim England could “make it a moral victory” with a win in the fifth and final Test of the Ashes earlier this year.

“They are the defending champions, we thought they will come aggressively at us,” added Starc.

Mitchell Starc said, "we expected England to come out a bit more aggressive, but they can take the moral victory from this". pic.twitter.com/ET7hLijcfn

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 4, 2023

That they did, claiming a few early wickets with Travis Head and David Warner combining for just 26 runs before Marnus Labuschagne helped steady the ship with a 71-run knock.

Starc also praised teammate Adam Zampa for helping take England’s “momentum away”.

Zampa, who was later named player of the match, finished with figures of 3-21 and capped off his spectacular outing with a stunning catch to dismiss David Willey.

Starc, meanwhile, made the perfect start as he dismissed Jonny Bairstow on the first ball of the innings to immediately rebound from a shaky showing against New Zealand last week.

“[I] probably didn’t get it right the other night against NZ,” Starc conceded.

Originally published as Starc destroys England with cheeky ‘moral victory’ quip after World Cup win