6 Dismissals In 8 Innings: How Mitchell Starc Has Become Travis Head’s Bogey-Man

Mitchell Starc continued his sublime form against his national compatriot Travis Head in top-level cricket. The Australian duo went head-to-head against each other during Delhi Capitals’ pulsating encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Head, who opened for the Sunrisers, has struggled to extract runs from the left-arm pacer. This time around, he got off the mark with an exquisite shot on the second ball of the match. He topped it up by pushing the drive to find the boundary rope straight towards mid-off.

Despite showing signs of promise, it was Starc who had the last laugh. On the first delivery of the penultimate over of the powerplay, Starc banged the ball in short, forcing the southpaw to go for a pull shot.

Head instinctively went for it, missed the line and gloved it away to KL Rahul, stationed behind the stumps. In top-level cricket, Starc dismissed Head for the sixth time in eight innings. Head, who has faced 34 deliveries from Starc, has only been able to muster up 18 runs.

Overall, Starc had a remarkable outing for Delhi Capitals against SRH at Vizag. He had a game to remember as he returned with rollicking figures of 5/35 in four overs, his first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket.

He also became the second DC bowler to get an IPL five-wicket haul after spinner Amit Mishra took 5/17 against Deccan Chargers in 2008.

Starc took a subtle dig at his compatriot during the mid-game show and said, “I think that is why he does not face the first ball anymore. I have not played too much T20 cricket across those 15 years.”

The left-arm speedster’s wicket pool included explosive batters Ishan Kishan, Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy. He returned in the death to scythe scalps of Wiaan Mulder and Harshal Patel.

His sizzling spell restricted the Sunrisers to 163, which DC effortlessly chased down and sealed a 7-wicket win to maintain its unbeaten run in the tournament.

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