Melbourne [Australia], October 23 : Mitchell Starc has started to peak just before the Border Gavaskar Trophy against India as shown by his scorching spell at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during Sheffield Shield.
While featuring for the New South Wales, Starc was a force to be reckoned with across both innings. Ahead of the highly-anticipated BGT series, where skills and patience will be tested, Starc is getting primed at the right time.
He took 1/35 and 6/81 in 36.5 overs across the match. On both occasions, Starc removed Marcus Harris, one of the players in contention to open for Australia in the BGT.
He took seven wickets in the match by putting his experience and skillset to optimum use. But even after his valiant display, New South Wales tasted a 141-run defeat against Victoria.
NSW coach Greg Shipperd believes India could find themselves in a tough spot if the conditions are similar to the one they played in.
"His pace, his rhythm, all of those things that go to engineering the sort of pace he was dealing with. He changed the game once he decided to go short and really change the dynamic of the match. And the second innings again, we thought perhaps he'd done enough, but he kept coming. And so that's a good sign for Australia and troubles ahead, perhaps, on the right wicket for India," Greg said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
On the fourth day of the match, Victoria stood victorious before lunch. Right-arm pacer Sam Elliot picked the final four scalps to end NSW's agony.
He broke the stubborn partnership 63-run between Josh Philippe and Starc. Philippe scored 88.
Starc was next to follow after top-edging the ball while attempting a pull. Nathan Lyon departed similarly after miscuing his pull shot, which was taken at the square leg. Elliot cleaned up Jackson Bird moments later to seal the game in Victoria's favour.