Australian bowler Mitchell Starc has impressive ODI statistics and took six NZ wickets on Saturday in the Cricket World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Australian bowler Mitchell Starc has impressive ODI statistics and took six NZ wickets on Saturday in the Cricket World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Batsmen obsessed with power instead of shot selection and defence, says Clarke.
Two grinning politicians from the right side of the spectrum took their seats at Eden Park on Saturday. John Key and Tony Abbott had no idea that they were about to be subjected to a day of left-wing propaganda.
The Eden Park thriller on Saturday saw two world-class southpaw seamersproducing high art with the ball.
Trent Boult knocked the guts out of Australia's dangerous middle order before Mitchell Starc made merry in the gloaming, ripping through New Zealand's tail and taking his side to the brink of an improbable victory.
Nineteen wickets fell on Saturday, 14 fell to lefties, 11 to Boult and Starc.
Both gave vivid demonstrations of how difficult it is to play left-arm swing when delivered at 145km/h. The angle of the delivery and late, in-ducking swing give the sense that a wicket could fall with every delivery, which was the case at times.
Starc clean bowled Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Adam Milne and Tim Southee, while Boult hit the stumps three times, though he tried to downplay his efforts afterwards by saying he got a couple of "lucky" drag-ons. Truth is, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh dragged on because Boult was bowling good, aggressive lines.
In the post-match wrap up, Australia captain Michael Clarke was extremely critical of the batting, mainly by his side but there was a message in it for New Zealand, too.
He thought both teams had been too aggressive and lacked defensive fundamentals against the swinging ball. Batsmen had become, perhaps, too obsessed with the "power" side of the game and not diligent enough on shot selection and defence.
There is a lot of merit to what he said. Some of the shots that led to dismissals were horrible, with Glenn Maxwell and Corey Anderson taking the gold and silver medals in a stacked field.
But the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Starc, Adam Milne, Tim Southee and even Grant Elliott (who looked as if he never saw the ball), could be excused. When you're a new batsman facing fast, swinging, wicket-to-wicket bowling, if it's not bowling you, you're probably an leg-before candidate.
Image 1 of 22: Australian opener Aaron Finch is bowled by Black Cap Tim Southee. Photo / Brett Phibbs
In Starc's case, it wasn't so long ago he was being looked upon as a talent that might go unfulfilled. While he is yet to prove himself a genuine test threat, his one-day stats are impressive.
"It's something I've worked really hard at for a long time, coming off the IPL last year when I dropped my arm a little bit," Starc said of an action that is nice and high. "It's something I've worked hard on with [bowling coaches] Craig McDermott and Troy Cooley up in Brisbane and it's great to see it working and being consistent.
"Something I feel really confident in is my white-ball bowling. With white-ball cricket I know my game plan and I'm pretty confident with how I'm going. I feel really at home with the white ball, like I really belong in the white-ball team."
Boult's red-ball credentials have never been in question, but he had not played enough one-day cricket to make a sound judgment on his white-ball qualities. He has dispelled doubts in one deadly five-over spell.
You could say it came out of left field.
Southpaws *Starc: 2 games, eight wickets, average 9.37 *Boult: 4 games, 10 wickets, average 14.40
