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Australia's Mitchell Starc ran through the India batting lineup in Visakhapatnam with a five-four as Men in Blue were reduced to 117 in 26 overs.
Starc carried his form over from the west coast of Mumbai to the east coast of Visakhapatnam, starting with the wicket of Shubman Gill in the very first over after India were put in to bat first. Three overs later, he was on a hat-trick for a second game in a row, scalping skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive balls. Yadav's dismal ODI form continued as he recorded his second golden duck in a row. "I have learnt the trade over the years. My rhythm has been good for a few weeks now. The last couple of nights, I got the ball to shape in the air and do a little bit off the wicket. Feeling in a good place, hopefully I can continue," Mitchell Starc said in a post-match presentation after bagging the Player of the Match award. Starc bagged a five-wicket haul while conceding 53 runs in 8 overs in the match. The Player of the Match said that expanding on his style of pace bowling up front sometimes is expensive in more runs but also brings 'more' wickets at times. "It's a role I play, being more attacking and bowling slightly fuller than some of the other guys. I can be slightly more expensive, but that brings in all the dismissals more, that's the role I play," said the 33-year-old pacer. The five wicket-haul was Starc's ninth in ODI cricket, taking him to level with Brett Lee for most five-fors for Australia and into the top five for most five-fors in ODI history. "My conversations are a little different compared to someone like a Cam Green. Both the decks have helped the seamers. There was movement in the air in Mumbai as well. My game plan is to attack the stumps and bring in all modes of dismissal into play," Starc said. Coming to the match, Starc's fifer followed by Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head's brutal hitting guided Australia to 10 wickets victory with 234 balls to spare against India in the second ODI of the three-match series at YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Marsh's unbeaten 66 off 36 while Head played a superb knock of 51* off 30 deliveries. Indian bowlers failed to take any wickets and handed Australia an easy win with veteran pacer Mohammed Shami conceding 29 runs. Australia chased down the target in the 11th over of the match and levelled the three-match series 1-1. (ANI)
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