JOIN USIt’s easy to overlook Mitchell Starc’s figures of 2/21 from his four overs in the face of AB de Villiers’ unbeaten 41-ball 89 blitzkrieg on Sunday night.
But his well-directed bouncers, one of which nailed Aaron Finch at the start, and full-length deliveries, one of which ended David Warner’s stint, were as crucial to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win as were de Villiers’ crushing blows. His dismissal of Warner, who had missed two previous balls, restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to what eventually turned out to be a middling total.
“I have had plenty of net sessions against Davey playing for Australia,” Starc said talking about his final over to Warner. “He knows where I am going to bowl and I know what he is going to do. It’s how each of us execute. I got one over him today but I am sure he will come back and try and get one over me next time. I am happy to take the points today,” remarked the paceman.
Starc shared a 57-run stand with de Villiers for the sixth wicket, contributing just five runs to the partnership as his senior partner went berserk. “Amazing knock,” Starc described the South African’s innings. “I was lucky enough to have a front row seat out there. To see him hit the ball so well, and it was great to see him get us home after all the hard work. I think it was a fantastic all-round effort, nice to get our first win at home this season. I think it was just important for me to just get as much of the strike to AB as I could and try not to lose any more wickets. We lost a few wickets early and they consolidated well and AB played an amazing innings. You can’t say much more about that, it was unbelievable to watch. It was really great to see him get us home after he did all the hard work.”
Starc wasn’t too worried about lack of recovery time as they had to travel on Monday for their next match against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. “Not at all. With the form of some of our guys... The bowlers are bowling very well, the batsmen like AB hitting, it’s fantastic. Obviously Chris got us off to a good start again today. Bring it on, (we’ll) play tomorrow (Monday) if we want,” he noted.