Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has 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. It was a must-win game for the visitors to stay in the tournament.
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.
Congratulatory messages flooded social media sites, with the users even saying that “Bradman’s not touching that either”. Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took a cheeky jab at English cricket and fans were left unimpressed by the comment. Manjrekar tweeted, “As long as we have English batsmen, we will have balls of the century.”
As long as we have English batsmen, we will have balls of the century.😉
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 19, 2017
Tweeple started slamming Sanjay for not appreciating the effort of Starc and making fun of it.
Twitter Reactions:
Introspection required. Please think the way you batted. Was more or less similar to the batsmen you are referring to.
— SURYANARAYANAN G (@g_snarayanan) December 19, 2017
Sanjay I respect you a lot, but being a cricketer never under estimate other players.. English players are champs
— Siva kumar (@imSivaKumar7) December 19, 2017
When the Indian fans call Sachin a God, do the Aussie commentators/players tweet that as long as Indian fans are there, we will have human gods. #Think #Respect #Ashes
— Zacky Shiraaz (@ZacShiraaz) December 19, 2017
A few people had fun with Sanjay’s tweet.
Hahaah Epic one
— BatBallBails (@BatBallBails) December 19, 2017
Twit of the century, congrats . Sarcasm at it’s best. Cheers.😂😂😂
— sangram keshari (@beingsangram_) December 19, 2017
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.
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