Starc takes five-wicket haul in IPL showdown with Cummins and Head

March 30, 2025 journo

Mitchell Starc has starred with the ball for Delhi Capitals in their seven-wicket victory over a Sunrisers Hyderabad team captained by Pat Cummins in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Starc dismantled the top order of Sunrisers’ normally formidable batting line-up, dismissing Travis Head (22) among a trio of early wickets in Visakhapatnam.

He then returned to mop up the tail and dismiss Sunrisers for 163, claiming his first five-wicket haul (5-35) in the IPL.

Victorian Jake Fraser-McGurk made 38 off 32 balls as Delhi chased down the target with four overs to spare.

Starc now has eight wickets in two matches for his new IPL team.

He joined Delhi after being released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), despite being player-of-the-match when taking 2-14 for KKR in last year’s final against Sunrisers.

“It’s been a good day,” Starc said.

“All round, we were fantastic. I’ve played for long enough, so I know what to do.

“You’ve got to think outside the box, even as an older player you have to bowl different balls.”

Hyderabad opted to bat first but lost Abhishek Sharma (1) to a run-out after a mix-up with Head.

Starc then stepped up and reduced Hyderabad to 4-37 in 4.1 overs, with Head — caught behind by KL Rahul — the third of his wickets.

It was the sixth time Starc had dismissed Head in eight T20 innings at a cost of 34 runs.

Cummins could only make 2, caught by Fraser-McGurk off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav.

Starc later finished Hyderabad off in the 19th over with the wickets of Harshal Patel (5) and Wiaan Mulder (9).

In reply, Fraser-McGurk and Faf du Plessis (50 off 27) put on 81 in nine overs and though Zeehan Ansari (3-42) dismissed both in the 10th over, Delhi cruised to victory.

Cummins returned the figures of 0-27 from two overs.

AAP