Zimbabwe stunned Australia in the third one-day international cricket match in Townsville on Saturday, registering an exciting three-wicket victory and denying the hosts a series clean-sweep thanks to leg-spinner Ryan Burl’s 5-10 in just three overs.
Zimbabwe’s three-wicket victory against Australia in Townsville was their first triumph there over Australia in any format. Zimbabwe had previously lost to Australia in 12 one-day internationals, 2 tests, and 1 washout.
Australia was given the plate, much to the audience’s short happiness. David Warner, with a counterattacking 94 from 96 balls, was the only significant contributor when they were all out for 141 runs after 31 overs.
The visiting captain Regis Chakabva (37 off 72 balls) made sure his team secured an unusual upset, winning just their third ODI match against the hosts despite the valiant efforts of the Australian bowlers to contain the low score. The greatest efforts of Australia’s bowlers failed to contain their final score of 142-7 in 39 overs.
Australia slipped to 72-5 as wickets fell on the two-paced surface before left-arm spinner Sean Williams had Cameron Green caught for three.
Warner maintained his composure as wickets fell all around him, including two in Burl’s first over when the all-rounder dismissed Glenn Maxwell for 19 and Ashton Agar for a duck.
The risky opening, though, fell short of three digits, sending Burl into Brad Evans’ hands.
Burl only had to wait for three more balls after clean-bowling Mitchell Starc in the 30th over for Josh Hazlewood to be caught behind for his first-ever international five-wicket haul.
Mitchell Starc destructive Bowler and the Fastest to reach 200th Wickets Milestone
Highlights of Mitchell Starc’s ODI career statistics as he became the quickest bowler to reach 200 wickets.
Mitchell Starc, an Australian fast bowler, has only participated in 102 ODIs over the course of a 12-year career, but in that time, he has smashed numerous records. On Saturday, Starc broke the record of former Pakistani offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who needed 104 games to reach 200 ODI wickets, becoming the player with the most quickly. In terms of balls bowled, Starc is also the fastest to 200 ODI wickets (5240).
Starc also beat Saqlin Mushtaq’s records in 2016 and 2019, becoming the player to reach 100 and 150 ODI wickets the quickest. Rashid Khan outperformed Starc’s quick 100 ODI wickets in 2018, but Starc still holds the record with 150 wickets.
Only one bowler has taken more ODI wickets since Starc made his debut in October 2010: Lasith Malinga, who has 232 wickets in 154 games. During this time, a few other bowlers have participated in about the same number of games as Starc, but none have come close to matching his total.
However, among the 38 bowlers who have claimed 200 or more wickets in men’s ODIs, Starc’s average of 22.31 is fourth-best, and his strike rate of 26.2 is by far the highest. In his very brief career, Starc, who is in the top five on both lists, has eight five-fors and 19 instances of taking four or more wickets in an innings.
Despite not consistently participating in ODIs, Starc has rarely had trouble with his form. Starc has only participated in 45.9% of Australia’s ODIs since his debut in 2010, missing 118 of the team’s 222 games. Starc has never failed to take a wicket in more than two consecutive games.
In 2020, when the pandemic break was followed by 11 matches, Starc experienced one of his few dry spells in ODIs, taking only 12 wickets at an average of 51.7. Between 2015 and 2017, Starc went 24 games without a haul of four or more wickets. Starc continued to take 44 wickets at a 22 average during this time and only went without a wicket in two games.
One of Starc’s strengths in ODI is his ability to get rid of batters early in their innings. Of his 200 ODI kills, 112 have come from batters with fewer than ten, including 44 ducks.
In his ODI career, Starc has never taken a hat-trick, although 13 times, he has taken consecutive wickets. Since Starc’s ODI debut, no one else has been on a hat trick more frequently. Starc was able to run through the lower-middle order and tail because eight out of the thirteen times occurred when the opposition was five down. Since his debut, Starc has taken 56 wickets of the bottom four batsmen at an average of 9.41, which ranks third among all bowlers (min 25 wickets).
(Inputs from India Today)
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