Australian pacer Mitchell Starc once again proved why is he one of the finest pacers in world cricket at the moment. The Aussies are yet again on top in the ongoing Ashes as England find the host bowlers too hot to handle.
On Day 4 of the third Ashes Test at the WACA stadium, Starc produced an unplayable delivery to dismiss England batsman James Vince. The delivery has started being hailed as the ‘Ball of the Ashes’. People are also comparing the delivery to Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’, which baffled Mike Gatting in 1993.
With England staring a certain defeat, James Vince played a valiant knock but Starc had other plans. In the 30th over, Vince was batting on 55 and Starc bowled a super quick delivery which pitched on middle stump and went on to rattle the off-stump.
Starc fired one in at 90mph bowling from round the wicket into the right-hander. The ball moved in with the angle and Vince prepared to flick it on the on-side. But the ball moved away from him after pitching and deviated enough to beat the outside edge of his bat and rather crash into the timber.
The ball took a nasty reverse swing after pitching on the crack to dismantle Vince’s wicket. The delivery soon became the talking point of cricket world with many former and legendary cricketers hailing it as the delivery of this, delivery of that. Shane Warne was full of praise for Starc’s sensational delivery.
Vince couldn’t believe the ball actually moved that much and knew he was undone by the sound of the stump crashing down on the ground. The ball pitched in the short of good length area was in the 6m range away from the stumps and deviated as much as 3.9 degrees from the original trajectory which would’ve taken it down to the leg side.
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That’s just absurd #Ashes pic.twitter.com/TtkEDPjbJH
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 17, 2017
Congratulatory messages flooded social media sites, with the users even saying that “Bradman’s not touching that either”. For Indian fans, the delivery sure reminds the dismissal of Cheteswhar Pujara on the final day of the Boxing Day Test in 2014 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, bowled by Mitch Johnson.
Australia wrapped up the Ashes series with a resounding win in the third Test at the WACA by an innings and 41 runs. Josh Hazlewood led the way with five for 48. Only first innings centurion Dawid Malan put any semblance of resistance, scoring a patient 135-ball 54. England’s lower-order capitulated yet again in the series, with the last five wickets skittled out for just 45 runs in 18 overs.
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