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Adelaide, Australia
Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc in the first innings of the pink-ball Test between Australia and India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he bagged his first fifer against Rohit Sharma’s men. Playing at the Adelaide Oval on Friday (Dec 6), Starc was on the money having got the better of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the first ball of the match. This was followed by another brilliant spell to complete the fifer in the second session of Day 1 as he ended with figures of 48/6.
Starc wreaks havoc
With Australia trailing 0-1 in the five-match BGT, Starc's role was important for the Aussies in the Adelaide Test and he did not disappoint. Having silenced Jaiswal for a duck for the second time in the series, he went on to take valuable wickets of KL Rahul (37) and Virat Kohli (7), putting India on the back foot. The leading wicket-taker in the pink-ball format, Starc showed his class from both ends at the Adelaide Oval as the Indian team struggled to counter him despite the returns of skipper Rohit Sharma (3) and Shubman Gill (31) in the Playing XI.
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The left-arm pacer then managed to complete his 15th fifer in the Test format when he dismissed tail-end batters Ravichandran Ashwin (22) and Harshit Rana (0) in back-to-back overs in the second session of Day 1. India later got bowled out for 180 as Nitish Reddy top-scored with 42 off 54.
Starc extends pink-ball dominance
With the fifer, the 34-year-old pacer extended his dominance in the pink-ball matches and now has 72 wickets after the first innings in Adelaide. He remains the most decorated bowler in the pink-ball format as he leads second-placed Nathan Lyon (43) by 28 wickets. The Aussies will heavily rely on the services of the pacer as they look to continue their near-flawless form in the pink-ball Test.
In 12 previous pink-ball matches Australia have lost only one match which came against the West Indies in January 2024.