WI vs AUS: Mitchell Starc record 5-fer bowls West Indies out for 123 in 1st ODI

The cricket season is in full flow, with as many as 4 international games took place on Tuesday. England won the third and final T20I against Pakistan, winning the series 2-1. India narrowly beat Sri Lanka in the second ODI. Bangladesh whitewashed Zimbabwe as they comfortably chased down 298 in the third ODI. Mitchell Starc was on fire as he took a five-fer as Australia went head-to-head against West Indies.

WI vs AUS

Australia took on West Indies in the first ODI at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. Alex Carey was captaining a new-look Aussie side for the first time in what was their first ODI in seven months. The West Indies were favorites going into the match though the rankings suggested otherwise. They had won their previous ODI series 3-0 vs. Sri Lanka and won the recent T20I series against Australia with a comfortable 4-1 margin.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Josh Philippe and Ben McDermott got off to good starts but failed to convert them into big scores. Mitchell Marsh had a good outing in T20Is and made 20 runs. Skipper Carey and Ashton Turner had a good partnership in the middle. They scored 67 and 49 runs, respectively. Australia ended up with 252. Hayden Walsh was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 5 wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs. Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein picked up two wickets each.

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Mitchell Starc record 5-fer bowls West Indies out

The first innings took four and a half hours to complete due to rain interruptions. The match was reduced to 49 overs, and the revised target was 257. If Walsh’s spell was good, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were better. Starc caught and bowled Evan Lewis for a golden duck off the very first ball of the innings. He made it three in three as he dismissed Jason Mohammed and Pooran next. The run chase was well and truly over by the eighth over. As Jason Holder fell for a duck, the Caribbean side were reduced to 27-6.

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Hazlewood played his part by picking up 3 wickets and was his usual economical self. Pollards and Joseph’s partnership for the seventh wicket brought a tiny ray of hope which Mitchell Marsh extinguished. Starc returned in the 22^nd over and sent Pollard back to the pavilion in the third ball. In the final ball of the over he trapped Akeal Hosein in front of the wickets, thus completing a five-wicket haul.

This man has copped a lot the last couple of weeks from the keyboard warriors. No better way to shut us up with an 8th ODI career 5fa pic.twitter.com/3y9PxoR43f

— Izz (@Pacebouncy) July 21, 2021

Adam Zampa finished the proceedings by taking the wicket of Hayden Walsh. Starc was declared Player of the Match. This victory lifted Australia to third on the Cricket World Cup Super League Standings.

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