New Delhi:
The five-time champion Australia suffered an eight-wicket loss against the host-England at Edgbaston in Birmingham and were eventually ousted from the ICC World Cup 2019. The men-in-yellow played with dominance through the course of the tournament, but were all over the place in knockouts. However, Australia still has a few things to cherish as David Warner, Mitchell Starc, and Steve Smith produced scintillating performances in quadernniel tournament.Â
The Australian speedster Mitchell Starc achieved a remarkable feat against England, becoming the first bowler to take 27 wickets in single edition of the World Cup, going past Glenn McGrath's record, which stood tall for 12 long years. McGrath had taken 26 wickets in Australia's victorious campaign in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.Starc broke the record with his 27th scalp in this edition but the wicket might have come a little too late for Australia as England are in a strong position in chase of 224 in Birmingham.
Starc is currently joint-fifth in the all-time wicket-takers list in World Cups with 49 scalps from 18 matches across two editions. He is level with former Sri Lanka great Chaminda Vaas.Glenn McGrath leads the list with 71 wickets in 39 matches, followed by Muttiah Muralitharan (68), Lasith Malinga (56) and Wasim Akram (55).
Starc though, has the best average among all the bowlers who have taken more than 40 wickets in World Cup with 14.40. He also holds the record for the most five-wicket hauls with three, followed by Shahid Afridi and McGrath, who have two each.Starc has taken two five-wicket hauls and two four-wicket hauls in this edition alone.
Mustafizur Rahman (20) and Jofra Archer (19) complete the top-three wicket-takers in this World Cup.Australia though are staring down the barrel at the moment with England's opening pair of Bairstow (34) and Jason Roy (85) having added 124 runs for the first wicket.
Earlier, Steve Smith saved Australia's blushes with a gutsy 85 to help the defending champions post 223 all out in 49 overs. Smith's knock was his fourth 50-plus score in four innings in the World Cup knockouts, drawing him level with Sachin Tendulkar's record. The Indian batting legend managed the feat in 7 knockout games across three editions while Smith did it in four successive matches across two editions.
Here's the Tweet:Â
May have been a disappointing end for him, but he was âš¡ in the #CWC19 on the whole!
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 12, 2019
With a record-breaking 27 wickets, he's very likely to finish top wicket-taker for the second World Cup in succession! pic.twitter.com/mGbL7aUI0K
