Australia speedster Mitchell Starc produced an absolute jaffa of a delivery to send England batter Dawid Malan back to the pavilion for a duck in the ongoing second ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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It all happened on the fifth delivery of the English innings when Malan had no answer whatsoever to a delivery which pitched on middle-off only to straighten enough to beat the batter’s unsuccessful attempt to play a ball.
The ball shaping away from left-handed Malan at a speed of 145.5 kmph was perhaps too quick for even an in-form batter. Having played only three deliveries, Malan failed to contribute a single run in the following innings after his second ODI century in the first ODI at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Mitchell Starc jaffa to dismiss Dawid Malan at the SCG
“Crowd getting behind him. Mitch Starc swinging the ball. Got him! It’s an absolute ripper from Mitch Starc. He’s in fine form. And boy, don’t Australia know it,” Fox Sports commentator Isa Guha said to describe Malan’s dismissal off Starc.
That is a SEED from Starc!#AUSvENG | #PlayOfTheDay | #Dettol pic.twitter.com/XISUPw34Pm
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 19, 2022
A primary reason why crowd was cheering Starc even before him dismissing Malan was because of him already having dismissed England opening batter Jason Roy (0) on the second ball of the innings. Wanting to nudge a harmless leg-side delivery, all Roy did was glove the ball to Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey.
Chasing a 281-run target, England losing a couple of wickets in the first over itself wasn’t the kind of start they would’ve hoped for. Playing in the absence of regular white-ball captain Jos Buttler, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that England are in deep trouble especially after also losing opening batter Phil Salt (23) in the sixth over.
Australia, meanwhile, put on board a competitive 280/8 in 50 overs on the back of individual half-centuries from Steven Smith (94), Marnus Labuschagne (58) and Mitchell Marsh (50).
