Mitchell Starc rattled SRH with the early strike in the IPL 2024 final. (Sportzpics)After he produced a peach in Qualifier 1 to dismiss his national teammate Travis Head in the first over, Mitch Starc came up with arguably the best delivery of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 in the title clash. This time, Abhishek Sharma was at the receiving end.
Having opted to bat first at Chepauk, Pat Cummins’ side would have been hoping for a good start in the powerplay. What they got instead was a Starc first-over special. The man who has been known to deliver some epic performances on the big occasion did it again. (Remember Brendon McCullum in the 2015 World Cup final?)
AN ABSOLUTE RIPPER! 🤩
As spectacular as it gets from Mitchell Starc ⚡️
He gets the in-form Abhishek Sharma early 🔥
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/K5w9WIywuR
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
Head was bowled in the first over in Ahmedabad but he didn’t take strike today, Abhishek did. The first couple of deliveries were wild swing-and-miss. Nerves evident. Next ball, there was a short ball outside offstump that really on any other day on this IPL, Abhishek would have thumped away confidently. Instead, he toe-ended it to Andre Russell, nearly caught out. The fourth ball, was another nearly dismissal… a strange late call to run two after squeezing the ball to deep point. Ramandeep Singh has been electric on the field this season, he got around to the ball in time but his throw wasn’t the greatest, otherwise Abhishek would have been caught short of his crease.
But off the fifth ball… Starc took matters in his own hands. That magical left-hand to be precise. A good-length ball curved away from Abhishek ever so late and had him in sixes and sevens. An archer with the best of bows couldn’t have aimed for the top of off stump better, as the ball beat Abhishek’s outside edge. Bullseye. The stumps lit up, as did Starc’s face.
The big-money recruit didn’t always have the best of outings in the middle during this IPL but in the knockouts, he stepped up and how.
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